


live to be the wicked ones

by thatsformetoknow



Series: live to be the wicked ones [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Here we go, Issues, Knotting, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sex, Werewolf!Shiro, Witch!Lance, but angst with a happy ending, but like, he gets turned into a werewolf, i dont want to give too much away, i would say, lance has a reputation for hating wolves, lance heals him and takes him under his wing, lance is 800 years old, marking as claiming, obviously, of course, oh boy, right - Freeform, shiro is in his early 20s, they fall in love, this is probably my favourite fic ive written, until shiro comes along, werewolves are mortal and lance is immortal so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:35:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsformetoknow/pseuds/thatsformetoknow
Summary: “Really, Lance? A wolf? I’m surprised,” Hunk said as Lance led him through, getting a few bottles off of his shelf and checking the labels before handing them over.“Yes, I know, I’m not keeping him long,” Lance sighed, taking a drawstring bag as Hunk handed it to him.“Keeping him?”Lance ran a hand over his face. “Yes, well, I sent him away and he damn near died so I’ve got to figure out somewhere for him to go.”“But… How did you end up with him?”“He’s just a pup, Hunk. He was turned a few days ago, in the midst of an alpha fight and he nearly died, I couldn't just leave him there."
Relationships: Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Series: live to be the wicked ones [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853974
Comments: 62
Kudos: 278





	1. Chapter 1

Lance wasn’t _bad_. He did bad things for bad people, and even worse things for good people, but he’d lived a long enough life by now that passing such a judgement just wasn’t in his nature. For the right price he’d provide any sort of ingredients; potions or spells that you required, or even whisk you somewhere very far away with a portal. He’d had to move around a lot over the centuries, but his clients always managed to find him. His trade was good, and he was thriving.

Some people wanted help with tracking spells. Whether it was to find a lost loved one or to hunt someone down wasn’t of any importance to Lance. In a world where his kind were dying, there was only so much that was available, and when people became desperate, they were willing to do a lot for it. 

And what did Lance have to live for anymore, really? It had been a _long_ life, and there wasn’t any end in sight yet, unless someone would so choose to end it for him prematurely. So he helped people. Anyone that came to him, as long as they could pay what was due, he would provide. It was a nice life, really. He lived in lavishery, not anywhere particularly big, because he didn’t have anyone to share it with- _couldn’t_ have anyone to share it with, but it was enough and he was content.

What Lance wasn’t in the habit of doing was charity work. He’d dabbled in that maybe six centuries ago and hence vowed never to go there again. No one deserved anything for free, and that was just the way the world worked. And if they _did_ deserve it? They still wouldn’t get it either way.

No, Lance had been there, done that, tried and tested and would _not_ try again. It made you feel good for a while until you were broke and being screwed over left right and centre. People got what they paid for, these days. And if they couldn’t pay, they got shown the door. He’d hardened over the years, but it had been necessary to survive. 

Those were the words running through his head as he came upon- completely by chance- a pup by the roadside, fur matted with blood, whimpering softly. But Lance wasn’t _bad_. He did bad things for bad people and even worse things for good people, but _he wasn’t bad_. And he wasn’t going to let this little thing die here, no. He couldn’t. 

He crouched down next to it, trying to assess the damage. It was newly turned, that much Lance could tell, limbs gangly and splayed at angles that really could _not_ have been good. God… where was the pack? Lance _knew_ there wasn’t a pack living around here, which meant this little one had gotten spooked and made a break for it, which was a death sentence. 

Sighing, Lance took his coat off, laying it over the pup and sparking his fingertips for a moment, before summoning a portal around them to take them back to his apartment. Once they were safely off of the streets and in the warm, Lance set to work. He laid the pup on his counter, the little thing still whimpering, shallowly breathing and eyes closed, and set about cleaning his wounds. 

They were bad. Judging by the moon cycle, it meant that he’d probably been caught in the midst of an alpha battle. The pup’s chances weren’t looking good, but he hurried anyway, cleaning and disinfecting the wounds, before laying his hands over each of them in turn, closing his eyes and focusing, carefully closing each of them. 

After that, he went to one of his shelves, rifling through the jars and carefully parting the pup’s jaw, careful to avoid the sharp fangs that rested there as he placed a healing herb on his tongue and closed his jaw again. That should help a little, at least. 

Next was something for the pain, Lance hovering his palms over his fur and slowly warming him, watching as the pup’s body visibly relaxed as the pain subsided. Lance carefully put a little ointment on his now healing wounds, and then carefully scooped him into his arms, finding him heavier than expected as he stumbled with him into the living room and laid him down on the sofa. 

He watched him for a few moments as he curled a little, letting out a soft breath. He probably wouldn’t wake until the morning, but at least for now it looked as if he was going to pull through. 

It was when Lance was putting his things away that he realised he’d used some of his most sought after potions in his haste to save the pup, and he looked at the jars for a long moment after replacing them, and then back to the pup that was curled on his couch. He hadn’t done something like this for a very long time, and it wasn’t sitting right with him. 

Lance had _learnt_ better than this. He’d _had_ to. Nonetheless, though, it was done now, and the little thing would live. He didn’t have a pack, which meant that Lance would have to try and locate the nearest one and ask them to take him in. If it wasn’t the pack that turned him, though… that might be difficult. 

Lance sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’d deal with that in the morning. He headed into his bathroom, pulling his clothes off and getting into the shower reluctantly, wanting nothing more than to collapse into bed, but after finding dried blood under his fingernails, decided that he definitely needed to shower first, and fell into bed soon after that. 

***

The following morning proved to be an experience. Thankfully, he was the first to wake up, having a few moments of blissful ignorance, before remembering the events of the night before, forehead creasing into a frown as he opened his eyes. Great.

He got up, changing and going out into the kitchen, wrinkling his nose at the sight of blood over his counter and huffing out a breath. He went out into the living room before doing anything about it, met with the sight of a naked man curled on his couch where the pup had been the night before. 

Lance grabbed up a blanket and draped it over him, taking a moment to take in the wounds that were angry and red, healing at least, but nasty. Those were going to scar badly. He knelt down beside him, looking at his face. He had dark messy hair with a shock of white in the front, and though he was very injured, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully enough. He looked to be in his early to mid twenties, perhaps, and Lance was not looking forward to explaining to him that he’d been turned into a werewolf last night. 

If only he could have stayed with the pack, then they wouldn’t be in this mess, and he might have someone to show him the ropes. Lance wasn’t cut out for this; he didn’t even do business with wolves, let alone… know how to raise one. 

There was a nasty cut on his face that spanned from cheek to cheek across the bridge of his nose that looked a little worse than the others and Lance suspected that it had reopened in the night. He gently laid his palm over his face and reclosed it, the man jolting awake at the touch, eyes wide and frightened as he scrambled backwards, pulling the blanket up over him. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Lance said gently, moving away from him and holding his hands up. 

The man looked wildly around his apartment, terrified, trying to scramble further away from him, chest heaving as he pressed himself against the back of the couch. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Lance repeated. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you, I saved your life.”

The man swallowed audibly, looking at him with wide frightened eyes. 

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked and the man froze, breathing quickening and coming in fast shallow breaths, as if he was unable to quite catch them in time and Lance was worried he was going to have to sedate him before they could move any further. 

Lance stayed quiet as he waited for the man to calm down a little, which took a while, but eventually his breathing evened and Lance took that as his cue to speak up again. 

“I know this is scary,” he said softly. “And I know it seems impossible… but it’s not. What you remember really _did_ happen, and if I hadn’t found you in time, god knows what would have happened to you. But you’re going to be okay now, alright?”

There was no response other than his breathing quickening again. 

“Okay…” Lance said, biting his lip and turning his palm over, creating a little wisp of purple energy, watching as the man’s eyes comically widened and a little whine caught in his throat. “It’s okay, little puppy,” Lance soothed softly and the man flicked his eyes from Lance’s hand to his own. 

“W-what?”

“My name’s Lance,” he said softly, waiting for the man to reciprocate.

“S-Shiro,” he said, clearing his throat, voice scratchy and raw. 

“Shiro,” Lance repeated. “I’m a witch,” he explained. “And last night you were attacked by wolves.”

“Wolves.”

“Werewolves,” Lance elaborated and Shiro winced. “You remember?” He gave a small nod. “Well… I’m afraid you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Shiro. But you’re alive.”

“What- what d’you mean-? I- I’m not- am I?”

Lance bit his lip. “I’m afraid so,” he confirmed. “It was a forced transformation last night, after you were attacked and the poison spread through you, it was your body's defence mechanism to turn. You’ll learn to turn at will with time. You broke a few bones, and your wounds were… considerable, but I’ve healed you to the best of my ability, and you should be okay.”

Shiro blinked at him for a few moments, as if none of the words were going in. Shock, probably. 

“I don’t- no, I can’t-” he said, breathing quickening again until he was almost panting, eyes filled with frightened tears that spilled over, quickly sending himself into a panic attack. 

Lance sighed, sparking his fingertips and sending a little wisp Shiro’s way, calming him immediately, eyes drooping as he slumped against the sofa. It was a lot for a human to take in, and… really, Shiro was doing rather well. Lance preferred to stay away from humans for reasons like this, and was glad that he hadn’t been born into a species like the wolf that had to deal with newcomers. 

Lance liked living alone and dealing with only people who were well versed in their world. The poor humans had no idea and so teaching one about it was… well, Lance had only had to do it a handful of times in his life and he had managed to stave off for a good few centuries now. 

Shiro was out for a few more hours after that, and Lance took the time to make a few calls to the nearest packs, explaining the situation to them. Though, like he’d feared, they’d turned him down. They’d been sympathetic enough… but sympathy was good for nothing if Lance was still lumbered with this wolf. He went into his room and got some clothes out, laying them out next to Shiro, retreating into his office to get some work done until he woke next. 

He was just about finishing up on his latest order when he heard a crash from the living room, heart speeding up in his chest as he rushed back in, finding his side table knocked over onto the floor, plant pot cracked and soil spread across his carpet, front door wide open and more importantly- Shiro gone. 

Lance clenched his jaw, walking out into the corridor and looking either way. Nothing. He rushed down to the lobby, hoping to at least catch him on the way out, but the doorman informed him that he was gone. Lance debated following him for a few moments, but ultimately went back up to his apartment. There was no way of telling which way Shiro had gone, nor if he would even be able to catch him, or what he would say if he did. 

He’d done his bit, he’d saved Shiro’s life, he’d made enquiries to try and ensure his safety, and Shiro had made a run for it. That wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault if Shiro died packless on the street, because _Lance had done his bit_.

Going back upstairs he tried to put it out of his mind, going through his meetings and working on new orders, having almost completely forgotten about Shiro by the time dusk had fallen and night had set in. 

Almost. 

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin when a howl sounded from outside his front door. A pained howl, he noted. His heart sank as he went to the door, already knowing what he was going to find before he did, quickly gathering Shiro up into his arms and carrying him back into the kitchen. God, his kitchen was not supposed to be used for this.

His wounds were impossibly worse today, and Lance didn’t know _what_ could have done this to him. There were a multitude of creatures that lurked the streets and the edges of the cities, which was why a lone wolf didn’t stand a chance, especially just a pup like Shiro. 

Shiro was just lucky that he’d managed to somehow remember where Lance lived and limp his way back there. And he really did mean limp; Lance could see the bone of his front right paw, and there was a very large part of his flesh missing. God… Lance didn’t know how he was going to deal with that, he was a witch for gods sake, not a doctor, or... vet.

He was quick to give Shiro a painkiller and sedative, working quickly on his wounds, but he was losing too much blood too fast from his leg, and so Lance was forced to remove part of it and cauterise the wound. 

Shit. 

He didn’t realise just how fast his heart was beating and his breath was coming until he had successfully closed all of his wounds and set about cleaning the blood matted fur. Lance was not cut out for this! He made potions and spells for people… he found rare ingredients and traded things, enchanted things, he didn’t do this!

Once he was finished and bandaged up, he carried Shiro back into the living room and sat him back down on the couch, covering him up again with the blanket and blowing out a very long breath. He looked at him for a few more moments, before going back into his kitchen, determined to clean it before going to bed so he wouldn’t have to deal with it in the morning, then throwing himself in the shower and finally collapsing into bed. 

***

When Lance went out into the living room the next morning, Shiro was already awake and curled up, legs pulled to his chest and chin resting between his knees. It seemed that this time he’d been left with a few of his wolf traits; just the ears and the tail as far as Lance could tell, but there could easily have been more. 

“Hey,” Lance said, alerting him to his presence as he walked in, sitting down next to him. 

“Hey,” Shiro said softly, not looking at him. 

“How are you feeling?” Lance asked and Shiro didn’t say anything for a few moments. 

“Thank you,” he said softly, ignoring Lance’s question.

“It’s alright,” Lance replied. “We should change your bandages.” 

“Okay,” Shiro said, still not moving and Lance sighed, getting up and offering him a hand. 

Shiro met his gaze and extended his left hand to him. Lance took him into the bathroom, and carefully removed the bandages, rinsing each wound and pressing his palm lightly over them, warming them with a little healing magic before redressing them. 

“I’ll get you something to wear,” he said, going into his room and getting some clothes for Shiro to change into. 

“My arm is gone,” Shiro said, seeming to not entirely be processing the things that Lance was saying, but taking the clothes from him anyway and putting them on. 

“Yes,” Lance agreed. “I don’t know what attacked you, but you were lucky to make it back here.”

Shiro gave a small nod. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Lance said. “But, I suppose it’s understandable, given the fact that I told you you were a werewolf,” he said and Shiro flinched. 

“What’s going to happen to me?” he asked. 

“Well… You can’t stay here. I reached out to a few packs yesterday, but they weren’t willing to take you on. It’s difficult to initiate a new wolf into an already established pack if they were turned by another. Wolves are territorial like that,” he explained. 

Shiro nodded.

“But you also can’t go back out there with nowhere to go, or you might not be so lucky this time. You’ve got a lot of wounds and you’re going to need to rest up and let them heal before you go anywhere. A newly turned wolf pup packless on the streets? You might as well have a target on your back.”

A small whine caught in Shiro’s throat and he frowned. “What… what am I gonna do? I- I just finished uni and I’m about to start a new job, and- I can’t-”

“Hey, breathe,” Lance said, laying a hand on his arm. “Breathe for me, okay?”

Shiro did his best, taking in deep shaky breaths until he’d calmed again. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” Lance said. “I don’t… Well, I know _enough_ about wolves, I’ve been around long enough,” he said, pursing his lips. “But these days I don’t really do dealings with them too much. And I don’t do things for people for free, either,” he added with a huff of annoyance at himself. 

“I don’t- I mean I don’t have anything to give you…” Shiro said, biting his lip. 

“I know, I know. You didn’t ask me to save you, that was my choice, so this one’s on me. But I can’t send you out there again, or I will have wasted everything I used trying to heal you if you die. So you’ll have to stay here for a few days until you’re better and we can figure out where you can go.”

“I can’t… just… go back home?”

“If you want to end up killing your family, then sure,” Lance said, raising an eyebrow. “Newly turned wolves are temperamental at _best_. Ones turned on the blood moon by an alpha…? Yeah, I wouldn’t want to put you in the way of _anything._ ”

“I would never hurt them!” Shiro said defensively, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Until you learn to control it, you won’t have much of a choice. That’s why you need a pack, you need wolves to follow and learn from. You have to learn how, and until you can learn to control it, and learn to transform at will, and keep your urges at bay… then going home would be putting everyone in more danger than ever.”

“But… if I learn to control it…” Shiro said carefully. “I won’t need a pack, and I can just go home, right?”

Lance sighed. “In theory,” he said. “Lone wolves don’t usually… do very well. It’s instinctual, they _need_ the company of their own kind.”

“I’ll be fine,” Shiro said, frowning, curling in on himself a bit.

“I know you don’t want this,” Lance said softly. “But it’s a part of you now. And you can keep sitting here in shock, trying to reject it, but the sooner you accept that it’s a part of you now, the sooner you can learn to be in control and the sooner you can go home.”

Shiro huffed, averting his eyes. 

“Right now you’re at sort of an in between stage,” he said, gesturing to the fluffy ears and tail Shiro donned. “It’s your body's way of finding common ground between your forms. This first week’s going to be hard on your body. There will be a lot of forced transformations while your body gets used to its new form. Forced transformations are… a strain. Normally a new wolf will stay in the den with a wolf or two guarding it while it goes through this, because it wouldn’t survive on the move. It’s going to be hard, and it’s going to be painful. I could give you sedatives or painkillers, but… the only true way to get through it is to embrace it. You have to embrace the wolf inside of you, or you’ll never be in complete control.”

Shiro swallowed thickly. “That… that’s… I don’t think…”

“I know,” Lance said. “There’s nothing we can do except ride it out. I’ll have to clear out my spare room for you, I suppose. It’s being used for storage at the minute…” he mused. 

“Thank you,” Shiro said softly, biting his lip. 

Lance waved him off, leading him back out. “Can you cook?”

“Uh- kinda.” 

“Well, just have a look around and make something, okay? I have work to do, I’m already behind schedule.”

“What… what d’you do?”

“What do I do?” Lance asked. “What _don’t_ I do? I’m a witch. Anyone who needs anything comes to me. Magic, spells, potions, anything. I’m your guy.”

“Are there- are there a lot of witches?”

Lance was quiet for a moment. “No,” he said, looking down. “No, there’s not. There used to be, but there’s not anymore. Just me and a couple of others dotted around here and there. I’m the only one for a good few hundred thousand miles out.”

“I’m sorry,” Shiro murmured. “That must be lonely.”

“It’s not,” Lance said with a tight smile. “I haven’t experienced loneliness for centuries.”

“Centuries?” Shiro squeaked and Lance looked at him. 

“Yes, centuries.”

“But you look- you look, well, like you’re twenty-five.”

“Mm, most witches stop ageing around then. It’s been… I lose track, but it’s been maybe eight hundred years since then.”

Shiro’s lips parted as he looked at him in wonder. 

“Go and make some food will you, puppy?” Lance asked, ending the conversation and Shiro bristled. 

“What did you call me?” 

“Puppy,” Lance said, like it was obvious. 

“I’m not a puppy!”

“Yes you are. You’re a werewolf pup.”

Shiro huffed and went into the kitchen, and Lance’s lips curled into a smile as he watched after him. Maybe having someone around for a few days wouldn’t be entirely awful. Well, he’d wait to taste his cooking and then make a judgement.

Lance went into the spare room and set about putting everything away, moving bits and pieces into his office and boxes into the bottom of closets, dusting and making the bed when he was done, blowing out a breath. He’d need to get Shiro some clothes. 

He shouldn’t be doing this, he knew he shouldn’t be doing this… all Shiro was going to do was take and take and take and he might be grateful, yes, but then he was going to be gone and Lance was going to be worse off for it and with nothing to show for it, either. 

But if he sent Shiro away then he’d die… and that would be a waste of the things he’d already used. He sighed, running a hand over his face. That, and… he wasn’t about to let him die. He hadn’t _done_ anything. Up until a few days ago he’d been a regular human being, and they were innocent. They were stupid and sheltered and innocent, and yes, some of them were terrible, but not Shiro. He was freshly graduated and about to start his life… he didn’t deserve this life, but he deserved to die for it less. 

Lance sighed, coming into the kitchen where Shiro was serving up two plates of stir fry and Lance hummed in interest. 

“Does it look okay?” Shiro asked shyly.

“It looks good,” Lance said, pulling up a chair at the table as Shiro put his plate down in front of him and then sat down too. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Lance hummed. “Mm, I think you can stay,” he said. “This is really good.”

“Thank you,” Shiro said with a shy smile.

“I’ve got some clients coming over in a bit, so I’ll need you to stay out of my way while I do business with them.”

“Do you have any wolves coming?” Shiro asked curiously and Lance pursed his lips.

“I don’t do business with wolves,” he said and Shiro’s ears flattened. 

“Why not?”

“I just don’t,” Lance said, pursing his lips. 

“Do the wolves not like you?”

Lance glared at him. “The wolves like me plenty, _I_ don’t like them.”

“Why not…? I mean… you saved me.”

“I saved you because you’re a pup, and you didn’t deserve to die. But after you’ve found a place to settle I don’t expect we’ll cross paths again.”

“Oh,” Shiro said, forehead creasing. “What did… What did the wolves do to you?”

“You’re a curious little thing,” Lance observed and Shiro puffed his chest out a bit at the word ‘little’. “Something a very long time ago.”

“But… can’t you forgive them?”

“No,” he said, averting his eyes. “I can’t,” he said and thankfully Shiro took the hint not to push. 

Lance got up and took their plates into the kitchen before heading into his office, leaving Shiro to do the washing up. He was going to get a headache if he kept up with all of these questions. 

He got it, really, he did. Shiro was a new pup trying to come to terms with the fact that that’s what he was, and trying to understand this world and his place in it was part of that. He’d looked disappointed when Lance had said they wouldn’t meet again, and that was probably part of him trying to cling onto the only thing he knew of this world thus far, which was, well, Lance. Like a baby duckling that latches onto the first thing it sees as it’s parent, even if it’s not the mother duck. 

He’d be fine, though. Despite what Shiro said, Lance expected that Shiro would end up as part of a pack sooner or later. Whether it was sooner rather than later remained to be seen. 

It was a little while later that Shiro came into his office, seemingly having finished the washing up and apparently having cleaned the kitchen too.

“My clients will be here soon,” Lance said, looking up from where he was currently brewing a potion and pursing his lips.

“I’ll leave when they get here,” Shiro said, tail wagging hopefully.

Lance sighed. “Fine,” he said, sprinkling a few leaves into the mix and watching as it bubbled. 

“What are you making?” Shiro asked, coming up behind him. 

“Nothing you’d understand,” Lance replied.

“Whose it for?”

“No one you’d know,” Lance said and Shiro huffed. 

“You’re not very nice,” he said, ears drooped and Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Next time I’ll leave you to die,” he deadpanned and Shiro’s ears flattened against his head, a small whining noise escaping him. “That’s what’s known as a joke.”

“You don’t seem like the joking type,” Shiro mumbled. 

“I was a very long time ago,” Lance said, pursing his lips and stirring his potion, watching it change from a murky green to a rich purple. 

Shiro was quiet for a little time after that, not leaving, just observing, looking around his office at various things and not touching anything after Lance snapped at him to keep his paws to himself. 

“Who’s this?” he asked, tilting his head and gesturing to a photograph on Lance’s desk. 

“My wife,” Lance said, flicking his eyes to the picture and then away again. 

“Your wife?” Shiro asked. “She’s very pretty.”

“She was stunning,” Lance murmured. 

“When was this taken?” he asked, tilting his head at the old photpgraph.

“When photographs were first invented,” Lance said, not looking back at him. “A very long time ago.”

“What happened to her?” he asked and Lance gave him a look, jaw clenched. “...Sorry,” he mumbled. 

Lance sighed. “No, it’s fine. I’m not used to company. Or wolves. Or humans.”

“I don’t know how you’re not lonely,” he commented and Lance shrugged. 

“I’m quite content on my own.”

“But you weren’t always alone, right…? You used to live with your wife?”

Lance swallowed and nodded. “Yes. But she was taken from me, and I’ve lived alone ever since. So a long time, like I said- I’m used to it.”

“Taken from you…?” Shiro asked tentatively and Lance bristled, checking himself. 

“There’s a reason I don’t do business with wolves,” he said, before turning back to the potion and Shiro thankfully had the sense not to say any more on the matter. 

Lance’s first client arrived shortly after that, and Lance shooed Shiro out of the room, and he reluctantly went, tail between his legs, and Lance ignored the raised eyebrows of his old friend as he brought him into his office.

“Really, Lance? A wolf? I’m surprised,” Hunk said as Lance led him through, getting a few bottles off of his shelf and checking the labels before handing them over. 

“Yes, I know, I’m not keeping him long,” Lance sighed, taking a drawstring bag as Hunk handed it to him. 

“Keeping him?”

Lance ran a hand over his face. “Yes, well, I sent him away and he damn near died so I’ve got to figure out somewhere for him to go.”

“But… How did you end up with him?”

“He’s just a pup, Hunk. He was turned a few days ago, in the midst of an alpha fight and he nearly died, I couldn’t just leave him there.”

Hunk nodded solemnly. “Well, I have a few contacts, I can make inquiries for you, if you’d like.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Lance smiled. 

“Of course, anything for you, buddy.” . 

Hunk was one of Lance’s oldest friends. They’d known each other for many centuries, back when Lance was married, so he understood everything he’d been through first hand. He never judged him, and always supported him, even if they didn’t see each other as often as Lance might have liked. 

“What are you working on here?” Hunk asked, going over to the potion which was bubbling and giving off a scent that would improve as it brewed. 

“It’s for the Chancellor,” he explained. “He should be here in a few hours, just in time to collect it as it’s finished brewing.”

“Ah, send him my regards, will you? It must have been a good few decades since I’ve seen him.”

Lance nodded. “Mm, sure.”

“Anyway, I should need another batch in six months or so if that’s good for you.”

“Of course, let me jot that down,” he said, getting his diary out and flipping through the months to schedule when he’d need to brew some more for him. 

“And I’ll let you know about the wolf pup,” he said and Lance nodded gratefully. 

“Thank you,” he said.

“Of course,” Hunk smiled, patting Lance’s shoulder. “I’ll see you then, okay? I’ll call you.”

“Yeah, take care of yourself.”

“You too, buddy,” Hunk smiled, and Lance showed him out. 

The day was uneventful from then onwards, Lance serving his clients, and taking a break for food, making something himself tonight, as Shiro hadn’t come back out of his room yet, and Lance suspected that he was probably asleep. 

He didn’t hear it until he was just about to serve up, and he bit his lip, immediately whirling around as he heard the first pained howl. Maybe he should have made more of an effort to prepare him. He debated leaving him to ride it out, but eventually decided against that, because he knew that Shiro would be incredibly frightened. So, he made his way down the hall, pushing Shiro’s door open and finding a very frightened wolf cowering in the corner of the room. 

He moved over to him, holding his hands out and Shiro whimpered, cowering further 

“It’s just me, Shiro,” Lance murmured, kneeling down in front of him, keeping his hand extended. “It’s Lance, I’m not gonna hurt you, puppy,” he said, and Shiro whined, reaching out to nudge the palm of Lance’s hand with his nose. “There’s a good boy,” Lance murmured. 

Shiro made another soft whining noise, pushing forward to press himself against Lance, shaking a little and burying his snout in his neck, giving a huff. Lance tensed for a moment, before bringing his arms around him, stroking through his fur in what he hoped was a soothing way. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” Lance murmured. “It’ll get better, I promise.” 

There hopefully wouldn’t be much pain asides from the initial transformations over the first week or so, and then after that Shiro would have a better grasp on things and be able to control it a little more. 

Lance carefully moved to sit on the bed, patting it for Shiro to jump up too, which he did, whining softly at the strain on his muscles, before curling up on Lance’s lap. They stayed like that for a good few hours, Lance not sure how long for, just knowing that at some point he’d drifted off to sleep, and when he woke up, it was to a naked Shiro in his lap, instead of the wolf, skin covered in deep bruises from where his bones had changed, and he draped the blanket over him, Shiro sighing in his sleep and nuzzling against him gratefully. 

Lance sighed, stomach growling as he realised that he’d dished up the food, but hadn’t gotten around to eating it, and god only knew what the time was now. Shiro didn’t wake up for another hour or so after that, but Lance didn’t move, deciding to just let him rest. He didn’t mind much, anyway, and it was rare that he just took some time to sit and relax, so he just lay there, gently playing with Shiro’s hair as if it was his fur, Shiro breathing out soft contented little huffs as he scratched behind his ear. 

Lance hadn’t been around a wolf for so long in centuries, and Shiro was… well, Shiro was fine. A little curious, maybe, and though a matter of days ago he had just been a simple human, he was okay. Which was just as well, because if he proved to be trouble Lance would have no problems throwing him out, but that would be a waste of everything he’d used on him, so he’d rather that he lived. 

When Shiro did wake up, it was slowly and blearily, nuzzling against Lance’s hand and giving a soft sigh, before blinking up at him with sleepy eyes and giving a yawn. 

“Morning,” Lance murmured and Shiro wrinkled his nose. 

“Morning,” he replied, yawning again. 

“Sleep well?”

Shiro shrugged and then winced in pain. “I, uh, can’t tell yet.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna be sore for a little while,” Lance said, still absently stroking his hair. 

“That was… the worst thing I’ve ever-“ he huffed. 

“I know,” Lance replied, gently stroking behind his ear and Shiro let his eyes fall back closed. “But unfortunately you have to embrace it so you can get through this stage.”

Shiro frowned, but nodded. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “It sucks.”

“It does,” Lance agreed. “But you can do it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just have a feeling about you, puppy.”

Shiro pouted at the nickname but looked up at him curiously. “A good one?”

“Mm,” Lance made a non commital noise, but Shiro gave him a smug smile nonetheless as if it had been an affirmative answer. 

Lance rolled his eyes and shifted Shiro off of him, Shiro’s ears flattening as he made a small whining noise. Lance stood up and looked down at him, his tail giving a slow curious wag and Lance pursed his lips.

“You should get some sleep,” Lance said. “Let your body its strength back. I have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Shiro nodded, biting his lip, snuggling back down under the covers. 

“I’ll see you in the morning then,” Lance said, looking at him for a moment longer before turning and leaving the room, pulling the door closed behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> right lads when i say we're gonna be here for six more chapters i do actually mean it this time but buckle up we have a roller coaster of emotions coming up :relieved:
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated <3333


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How do you lie to yourself so easily?” Shiro asked, tilting his head and Lance stilled, slowly turning around to look at him with a questioning look. 
> 
> “May I ask for some context?” 
> 
> “You say you don’t do nice things for people, but you keep doing nice things for me. Even just now, you had me moved up to sit away from all of those people; you didn’t have to do that, there wasn’t anything in it for you. But you did it anyway.”
> 
> _People weren’t Shiro_. 
> 
> “See? You don’t even have an answer! Why me? What’s so special about me?”
> 
> “Nothing,” Lance said, clenching his jaw. “Is special about you,” he said tightly and Shiro flinched a little.

Shiro getting accustomed to the changes took longer than Lance had anticipated. It had been a week and a half now and though Shiro’s transformations were less frequent, only occurring once every few days now, rather than every day as it had initially been, they were still just as painful and traumatic for him, and he was no closer to being able to control them. 

He still hadn’t heard back from Hunk about a pack to take him, and so Lance was no closer on that front, and while he’d been doing a little digging himself, he was an incredibly busy man, and well… Shiro wasn’t too much hassle to have around the house. 

Lance was quickly becoming accustomed to the company, having spent centuries alone, it was somehow… comforting, in a way, to know that Shiro was just down the hall, not that Lance would ever admit that to anyone and lest of all Shiro. Shiro couldn’t know that he was… softening. Lance had spent centuries building himself up to this, distancing himself from the person he’d used to be, and he didn’t need one stupid little wolf wrecking all of that for him. He needed people to take him seriously.

They’d found that during Shiro’s transformations the only thing that would comfort him was to have Lance there with him, gently stroking through his fur. They’d found that regrettably, after Lance had a client with him during one of them, and of course, he could hardly just drop everything and run to tend to the wolf, so he’d had to get on with it himself. Shiro had said later that that had been the most painful and tiring one since the first. 

After that Lance made an effort to try and be with him through them, soothing him until he fell asleep, and then for a little after he changed back, and always leaving him soon after that. He’d only stay with Shiro for as long as he was needed; he couldn’t risk… some sort of bond forming between them more than it already had. He didn’t need it and he most certainly didn’t want it. He’d managed to get together some things to make Shiro a prosthetic arm, too. It was charmed to tap into his brain so that he could use it like a real arm, and it would transform into wolf form with him, too. 

But the days kept going by and Shiro wasn’t getting any better and Lance didn’t know what they were doing wrong. 

It was perhaps almost two weeks in that Lance got called away for business. He would have left Shiro behind, except… well, he didn’t know what a wolf by himself would get up to after each transformation cooped up in his house, and he had precious things in there that he couldn’t risk getting in harm's way, so Shiro had to come too. 

It was only a trip to the West for a week or so, for the high priestess that resided there. This specific potion could only be brewed in exact environmental conditions, those to which Lance’s city house just couldn’t provide. So he’d packed a bag for himself and for Shiro and portled them there. 

Everything about this corner of the West was gorgeous. It was hidden away from most of humankind, and the high priestess lived in the palace there, overlooking the gardens and the small portion of the kingdom. 

All kinds of species lived there, ones that Lance hadn’t encountered for centuries, and everything had a sort of ethereal glow about it, as if it would never storm or hurricane here, only sunshine and the lightest of summer rains, only enough to give life to the foliage and keep it thriving. 

Upon their arrival Lance was once again reminded of the silly little nickname he called Shiro by, as he excitedly looked around, ears pricking and twitching, tail wagging furiously as he took everything in, taking in long deep breaths of the summer air. 

“Come on, puppy, there’ll be time for exploring later,” Lance said, Shiro’s ears drooping disappointedly, but he quickly bounded after Lance, perking up again as he looked around on their walk up. 

Lance could have taken them a little closer to begin with, but he hadn’t been to this part of the West for centuries and the scenery was gorgeous. The way Shiro was bouncing around excitedly drinking everything in told him that he was of the same opinion. 

“Lance McClain,” was all Lance had to say as they got to the palace gates, the guards' eyes widening and nodding, making to open them, before suspiciously eyeing Shiro.

“And this one?”

“He’s with me,” Lance said, offering no other explanation and the guards looked at him for a few moments, before opening the gates. 

Lance walked slowly and steadily up the path, giving Shiro a look and he did his best to contain his excitement and follow his lead, tail still wagging furiously behind them as they walked up. 

“Honestly, puppy, you’d think you’d never been outside before,” Lance murmured and Shiro gave a small offended whine. 

“It’s just… everything’s different now,” he said, and Lance hummed.

He supposed in a way, Shiro hadn’t been outside before. Not since he was turned, at least. He’d been out in the city, but that was… the city, and well, he’d been attacked not long after leaving, so that hadn’t exactly been a great positive experience for him. 

And now, it seemed even in his human form he was still retaining his heightened senses, which were changing the way he viewed things, and Lance couldn’t blame him for being so excited. There was no better place than here to experience it for the first time; it was sweet, really.

When they finally got up to the front door, it was opened for them upon arrival, and they were led inside, Shiro whining as they left the outside, but still looking around inside with interest. 

“The high priestess will see you now,” he was informed and Lance nodded. “Alone.”

“He’s with me,” Lance said and the guard eyed Shiro. 

“He’ll be shown to your appropriate quarters, then,” he said. “The high priestess will not entertain a canine.”

Lance glanced at Shiro, whose tail and ears had drooped considerably and nodded, another guard coming up beside him and leading him away. Lance watched them go, brows pinched, before allowing himself to be led in the opposite direction, up two large flights of stairs and down a long corridor, before large doors were swung open in front of him, and he was led inside. 

“Lance,” the high priestess said with a smile, turning from where she was standing at a window. 

“Romelle,” Lance replied, smiling back at her. “It’s been too long.”

“Indeed it has. It’s been what, two centuries, now? You haven’t aged a day.”

“You’re too kind,” Lance replied, walking over to her, bringing the back of her hand to his lips in a soft kiss. 

“I hear you brought a canine,” she said, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh?”

“I watched your approach,” She said and Lance nodded. 

“Yes, he’s under my care for a little while.”

“You’ve changed,” she observed and Lance’s forehead creased. 

“How so?”

“The Lance I knew would never have entertained such a creature.” 

Lance averted his eyes. He hadn’t been aware that he’d made such a reputation for himself, but clearly, everyone had very set views of how they saw him. 

“He’s only a pup,” he said. “He’s got nowhere to go.”

“A canine, _and_ a charity case? My, Lance, you _have_ changed,” she said with an amused smile and Lance held her gaze. 

“No matter,” he said airily; he didn’t need her judgement. “Let’s get to business, shall we?”

“Mm, I think that would be wise,” she agreed, leading him over to a table, which was covered in various notes and items. 

Lance wasn’t there for too long, discussing the potion with Romelle and giving her a run down of how long everything would take, then he was then shown to the brewery; a room akin to a conservatory towards the back of the palace. It was light, airy and warm, and would be the perfect place to brew it. 

Once he’d finished the initial set up, after completing the first step, he had to leave it to brew for around twenty-eight hours, so he was shown to his quarters by a guard. The room was lavish, everything that Lance remembered from his previous visits, and more, a beautiful large open window overlooking the gardens, and an ensuite bathroom that was probably the size of most people’s living rooms these days. His bag had already been placed at the foot of the bed; four poster and canopy, and Lance flopped down onto it with a contented hum. There were definitely worse places to be called away on work to. 

Upon stepping out into the hall, he found the door of the room opposite open, and from it he could see Shiro sitting on the window seat and looking outside, tail wagging and nose twitching as he leaned out the window to get a better look. 

“Careful,” Lance said as he took a few steps in, Shiro jumping a little and turning around to look at him, tail wagging a little more as he saw him. “You don’t want to fall out.”

“I’m just trying to get a better look,” he said. 

“You can go out there if you want,” he offered and Shiro’s ears pricked, eyes lighting up. 

“Really?”

“Uh huh. We’re gonna be here for a couple of days, so… you don’t wanna be cooped up in your room all the time. I’m sure the gardeners won’t mind.”

“They didn’t seem to like me much,” Shiro said, ears flattening. 

“Who, the gardeners?”

“Anyone. They all looked at me like… I shouldn’t be here. And everyone calls me wolf or canine like I’m not a person, too.”

Lance frowned slightly and bit his lip. “Wolves aren’t bad, Shiro,” he said. 

“You seemed to think so,” he said sulkily, folding his arms across his chest. 

“A pack of wolves murdered my wife, so yes, I think I’m entitled to a bit of distaste towards them,” he said tightly. 

Shiro’s ears flattened and he gave a small whine. “Sorry.”

“All I meant, is that wolves aren’t bad. They’re just…” he broke off with a sigh. “You have a lot to learn about this world, and different social circles and who associates with who and who doesn’t.”

Shiro bit his lip and nodded. 

“There are a lot of fae this side of the West. Fae and wolves haven’t gotten along for centuries, so a wolf around here probably isn’t something that’s been seen for at least decades, if not centuries. I don’t expect many of the people here have ever had an encounter with one before, it’s just the way society is. But I brought you along anyway, because I couldn’t leave you, and like you said; you’re a person too, not just a wolf. You’ve only been a wolf for a short time. I guess that’s why I like you.”

“You like me?” he asked, tail swaying a little and Lance bit his lip with a small smile. 

“Yes,” he said, averting his eyes and not elaborating on the matter. “But asides from wolves not being common around here, I’ve made quite the name for myself over the past eight hundred years, and it’s pretty well known about my past, and my feelings for wolves. So I expect some of the stares are because of me, too.”

Shiro bit his lip. “Why… couldn’t you forgive them? I mean… surely the wolves that did that to her aren’t alive anymore.”

Lance blinked at him and then looked away with a sigh. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“You’re right, I don’t.” 

“You’re good, Shiro. You’re a good person, so please don’t ask me again, because I don’t think you’ll like the answer.”

“You’re a good person, too. You do all these nice things for people,” he said and Lance gave him a tight smile. 

“I’m not a good person,” he said. “I don’t do nice things for people. I do bad things for people if they pay me enough, just like I do good things for people if they pay me enough. I’m not a good person and I don’t do nice things.”

“You saved me,” Shiro said softly. “Even though you didn’t have to. You could’ve left me to die, but you didn’t. You saved my life twice, and you’re still looking after me.”

Lance looked at him for a long moment and looked away. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he said in lieu of replying and turned to leave. 

He turned back to glance at Shiro briefly in the doorway, finding him looking after him, tail hung between his legs and ears drooped, head tilted and looking at him with an unreadable expression. He quickly looked away and crossed back across to his own room, closing the door behind him and breathing a heavy sigh. He didn’t expect Shiro to understand. How could Shiro understand when Lance barely understood it himself?

He didn’t have an explanation for it. He didn’t have an explanation for saving Shiro’s life, or healing him again, or keeping him safe. He didn’t have an explanation for the fact that he liked him, he actually liked him, or the feeling that came with the knowledge that they would be parting ways soon, and that that would be the end. Maybe he kind of… liked having him around. He couldn’t explain it. 

***

True to his word, Lance didn’t see Shiro until dinner. He’d kept to himself in his room, and so he didn’t know what Shiro had been up to, but he hoped that he’d kept himself out of trouble. 

A servant girl came to fetch them when it was time, leading them down to the dining hall, Lance seated towards the top of the table, close to where the high priestess sat at the top, so that they could easily converse, and Shiro was seated a little way down, with some people that Lance didn’t recognise, but he could see how anxious Shiro was feeling from the way his ears were laying flat against his head and he was looking between everyone quickly with worry. 

“Romelle,” Lance murmured, once he was seated. “Would it be offensive to you to ask for my friend to be sat up by me?”

“I didn’t realise he was your friend,” Romelle said, eyeing him in amusement. 

“What did you think?” 

“Your prisoner, perhaps. Your ward, your familiar,” she said, listing off a few. 

“He’s not. But he is in my care and I would prefer to be able to keep an eye on him.”

“Is he troubled?” she asked sweetly, tilting her head. 

“He’s not a stranger to the way everyone looks at him, if that’s what you mean.”

She pursed her lips and hummed. “Very well,” she said, and then looked down the table. “Set the canine a place next to Mr. McClain,” she ordered, and the servants looked at her like she’d grown two heads for a moment, but quickly scrambled to follow her orders, and then ushered Shiro up the table to where Lance was sitting. 

“Thank you,” Shiro mumbled, not looking at Lance as he sat down. 

The food was quickly served after that, and they ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally making small talk that Shiro stayed out of until they were ready to leave, looking to Lance for some sort of instruction. 

Lance thanked Romelle for having them to dine with her, and then left the room, listening to the pad of Shiro’s footsteps as he followed behind him. He followed Lance all the way up to their rooms, and then again, followed Lance into his own. 

“How do you lie to yourself so easily?” Shiro asked, tilting his head and Lance stilled, slowly turning around to look at him with a questioning look. 

“May I ask for some context?” 

“You say you don’t do nice things for people, but you keep doing nice things for me. Even just now, you had me moved up to sit away from all of those people; you didn’t have to do that, there wasn’t anything in it for you. But you did it anyway.”

_People weren’t Shiro_. 

“See? You don’t even have an answer! Why me? What’s so special about me?”

“Nothing,” Lance said, clenching his jaw. “Is special about you,” he said tightly and Shiro flinched a little. “I didn’t realise it was bothering you so much, I’ll be sure to stop.” 

“Lance-”

“You can take your meals elsewhere, I don’t want you bothering me again, during our downtime or otherwise. I shall find somewhere for you to go when we return, and if I cannot then I’m afraid you’ll have to make your own way. You’re right, Shiro. You don’t deserve nice things, and I’m not going to give them to you, because I am not a nice person, and I don’t do _nice things_.”

A small whine escaped Shiro, ears completely flat against his head and tail between his legs.

“You can go now,” Lance said firmly and Shiro looked at him for another moment, before turning tail and leaving, letting the door fall softly closed behind him. 

Somehow, that was worse than a slam. But Lance… didn’t know what it was about Shiro that had him doing all of these things for him. But he was, and he hated it, he didn’t know how to deal with it and he didn’t know what was going on here, at all. 

He’d said it himself, he hadn’t felt loneliness for centuries, and yet somehow, though having only known Shiro for a few short weeks, his stomach was churning at the thought of him leaving. 

He didn’t want him to go. 

And there was no explanation for that, and it was terrifying, really, because… Lance hadn’t cared for someone- properly cared for someone- in centuries. Back in his youth he’d opened his heart up to anyone and he’d gotten hurt. The people that he’d cared about had gotten hurt, and Lance hadn’t been able to fix it. And so he’d closed himself off. For centuries he’d lived alone, and he’d let no one in, had no friends other than the ones that were similar to him, but even the likes of Hunk he only saw once or twice a year. 

Shiro wasn’t similar to Lance. Shiro was… everything that Lance wasn’t. He was good and he was kind, and he was pure. The longer he stayed around Lance the quicker those traits would fade into the background, before fading into nothingness. 

But Lance was selfish. 

It was barely a few hours after dinner that Lance heard it; the first howl of Shiro’s transformation. They’d been getting even less frequent, but he still shouldn’t have been surprised. He got up and rushed over to the door, opening it, ready to go to Shiro’s aid without another thought, but Shiro was already gone, running down the hallway, and it was all Lance could do to stare after him. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised, really. Now that they had all of this space, Shiro’s instincts would be kicking in and he’d want to run. And that might help, that would probably really help. Usually, the only thing that did was to curl up on Lance’s lap while he petted him, and Lance was _so selfish_.

He went back into his room, closing the door and going to sit by the window seat, looking out into the gardens that were now shadowed with darkness. The dark would soon become Shiro’s element, and he’d be able to navigate it better than the light, but for now he was just a clumsy puppy that needed protecting. It was stupid, it was so stupid because Lance was an eight hundred year old witch, and yet he’d taken this man under his wing like he was a real puppy, just felt the need to protect him and keep him close. And now that he’d had it, though it had been just a few short weeks, he didn’t want to go back to his house and be alone. 

He didn’t want to go back to waking up and making himself breakfast for one, looking at his calendar for the day and going through the motions, the same motions every day, because god, it had been a long life, and Lance was so _tired_.

He liked having Shiro around. He liked having someone to eat dinner with, and talk to while he worked. He liked having someone to take his mind off of things, to just sit with and pet for a few hours and know that he was helping. He liked being _important_ , he liked being _needed_ , but Shiro wouldn’t need him for much longer. 

And then he would leave and Lance would be alone again, and he’d never felt more lonely than sitting at that window in that gorgeous room, alone. Knowing that Shiro had been in here, and that he’d made him leave, shot him down and forced him out and then he hadn’t even wanted Lance’s help when he was hurting. How could he already care so much for someone that had only been in his life such a short time? Maybe he really was lonely, maybe he was so, _so_ lonely, and he’d latched onto the first thing that came along to challenge it. Maybe, but… That didn’t make this any easier. 

Lance shook it off, and got up, going into the bathroom to run himself a nice hot bath. He stayed in there for a good few hours, before finally retiring to bed, hoping that at least some sleep might get his mind off of things. He had work to do here, after all. 

***

Lance avoided Shiro the next day. He went straight to work after getting up, spending as long as he could in the conservatory working on the potion, before finally having to retire himself, knowing that there was no more he could do before leaving it to brew overnight. 

They were to take dinner with Romelle again that night, and Shiro’s place was set up next to Lance’s again. Despite what he’d said the night before, he didn’t make them move it or make Shiro leave. He sat in silence next to him, anyway, and left without looking to Lance when they were finished. 

What he’d said must have really hurt him. 

He found himself outside of Shiro’s door for a good ten minutes, but in the end, couldn’t bring himself to knock, so he turned and went into his own room instead and ran the bath again, sinking into it with a long heavy sigh. 

The next day was much the same, he went to work and he didn’t talk to Shiro. He sat by his window seat, looking out at the gardens as afternoon turned to evening and dusk fell upon the world. 

He could see Shiro out there, today, he was running with one of the servant girls, and Lance was watching them with a small smile on his face, despite himself. He watched as Shiro’s ears flicked and he turned his head sharply, eyes focusing on a rabbit, and he broke into a run after it, transforming into a wolf and chasing it down. 

Lance’s stomach dropped. 

That was… that was a voluntary transformation. Shiro had _done that_ himself. Lance should have felt proud but he just felt sick. That meant that… that Shiro was almost there. That he almost had a grasp on everything, and when that happened, he would need to leave, he couldn’t stay with Lance, he had no reason to stay with Lance after that. Lance came away from the window and laid down on his bed, staring up at the canopy above him with a hand on his abdomen. 

It was a good few hours before he moved, knowing that Shiro was back now, having heard his bedroom door close a little while ago. He stood up and moved to the door, opening it and standing outside of Shiro’s, raising his hand to knock. He let out a breath and did so, waiting for Shiro to answer it. He did, looking a little bewildered at seeing Lance there, but stood aside to let him in. Lance didn’t say anything for a few moments, just looking at him.

“You want to know what’s special about you?” he asked, taking a step towards him and Shiro nodded. “You’re good. You’re kind and you’re thoughtful and you’re innocent and pure, and you’re good. But… there are a million good people in this world, Shiro. There’s… a million kind and thoughtful people that I wouldn’t help. I saved you that night because it was instinctual. Because I’d done it even before I could stop to think about it. Because you looked so small and so hurt, and I couldn’t just leave you to die. Because I’m not _bad_ , just as much as I’m not good.”

Shiro listened, watching him with a small frown etched onto his forehead. 

“And that should have been that, you’re right, I don’t need to keep doing nice things for you, but I do, even now I still want to help you, I want to make sure that you’re happy and comfortable and safe,” he said, cupping Shiro’s face. 

“But… why?”

“Because I’m lonely,” Lance admitted, stroking his thumbs over Shiro’s cheeks. “I’m lonely and you’re all I’ve got. Because you’re everything that I’m not and I _love_ having you around, I love having someone to share things with, to help, to care for. And I do. I care about you _so_ much, and I _shouldn’t_ , because it’s only been a few weeks… but I do.”

Shiro’s eyes widened a little, and his lips parted. 

“I care about you in ways that I shouldn’t,” Lance murmured, wetting his lip and he watched as Shiro tracked the movement. 

“What… ways?” Shiro asked, voice soft and Lance slid one hand around to cup the back of his head, bringing their lips together. 

Shiro didn’t hesitate, or tense, but met him half way instead, eyes lidding and falling closed, a small huffed breath as they met and he wrapped his arm around Lance’s waist, pulling him closer. Lance moved their lips together and Shiro reciprocated, parting Lance’s lips with his own and gently nibbling at his lower lip. Lance hadn’t kissed anyone in goodness knows how long, but he could have kept kissing Shiro like this for the rest of his life, just right here, right now, like this, where nothing else mattered. 

Shiro held him closer and Lance breathed a gentle moan as he nipped at his lip, and slipped his tongue into his mouth. For the sweet innocent little puppy he seemed, Shiro knew how to kiss, and maybe it was because Lance hadn’t been with someone for… more than a century now, or whether he just liked Shiro that much, but he was already taking Lance to pieces. 

Lance looped his other arm around Shiro’s neck, pressing himself closer, and backing Shiro up towards the bed, the backs of his legs hitting it as he fell down onto it, and Lance was quick to climb into his lap, pushing him down and kissing him again. Shiro groaned softly, hands settling on Lance’s waist, only residing there for a few moments before they were exploring, dipping under the hem of his shirt, fingertips dancing over the skin on his back. Lance shuddered under his touch, deepening the kiss again and moving his tongue over Shiro’s, giving a soft moan into his mouth. 

They kissed and they kissed and they kissed and it was like time was completely unraveling around them. Lance had no idea how much time had passed, or how long they’d been there. It could have been five minutes or an hour, a day, or a century, and he would have been none the wiser; content to just keep kissing Shiro here like this. 

At some point, Shiro had rolled them over, pressing Lance into the bed and kissing him again and again and again. Lance whimpered as Shiro broke apart from him, an embarrassing noise, and he hadn’t made one such as that for longer than he could remember, but all he cared about right now was the feeling of Shiro’s lips dragging over his jaw and along his neck, teeth grazing his skin, and Lance gasped softly, winding a hand into his hair and gently tugging. 

Shiro gave an appreciative hum at the tug, latching onto a little bit of skin under Lance’s jaw and sucking. Lance’s eyes fluttered closed as his head tipped back and he tugged on Shiro’s hair again, Shiro gently biting down, rolling the skin between his teeth until it bruised nicely.

Lance should have cared about that, should have asked him to stop, to at least do it somewhere less visible, but he didn’t. He didn’t care, he just wanted Shiro to keep doing this, keep sucking marks into his skin wherever he liked, because Lance was a mess beneath him, completely unraveled from everything he usually was, weakly clinging to Shiro and moaning, already pathetically hard in his pants just from this, and lightly rutting up against Shiro’s body as he pressed against him. 

Shiro groaned softly, reciprocating the motion with a slightly harder bite and Lance was relieved to feel that Shiro was in a similar situation to himself. Lance disentangled their limbs and wrapped his legs around Shiro’s waist, and he had no idea what state his neck was in now, he just knew that he _didn’t want Shiro to stop_.

Shiro hummed against his skin, grabbing onto the hem of Lance’s shirt and pulling it up over his head, pulling back enough to look at him, biting his lip. 

“What?” Lance asked a little breathlessly, looking up at him and feeling his cheeks heat under his stare. 

“Nothing, you’re just…”

“I’m just what?”

“Really really beautiful,” Shiro murmured, dipping back down to kiss his neck and Lance gasped softly, biting his lip and feeling himself flush more. 

Except this time, Shiro began to kiss down his chest, gently pinching the skin between his teeth, drawing needy little gasps from Lance, smoothing his hands over his skin as he went. 

“Shiro…” Lance breathed, scrambling to try and tug Shiro’s shirt off and Shiro pulled up for a moment to let him, discarding it along with Lance’s, and Lance pulling him back in against his lips, kissing him almost desperately. 

Shiro slid his hands along Lance’s skin, pads of his thumbs catching on Lance’s nipples and Lance gasped into his mouth, whining softly and rocking his hips up against Shiro’s.

“Easy, baby,” Shiro murmured against his lips and Lance whimpered at that. God, he shouldn’t have liked that so much. “How um, how long has it…?” he asked hesitantly and Lance huffed. 

“I don’t know, like a hundred and fifty years?” he asked and Shiro’s eyes widened. 

“I get cranky if I haven’t had sex for a month, no wonder you’re so grumpy all the time,” Shiro said amusedly and Lance narrowed his eyes. 

“I am not grumpy.”

“Yes you are,” Shiro said, smiling widely. “You’re grumpy all the time, and that’s because you’re not getting laid. Once a century isn’t gonna cut it, Lance,” he scolded and Lance scowled. 

“Why don’t you _do something_ about it then?” he said and Shiro hummed, sliding his hand down to Lance’s waistband. 

“Are you suuure?” he asked teasingly and Lance huffed. 

“I take it back, I hate you,” he grumbled impatiently. 

“Aw, baby,” Shiro said and Lance clenched his jaw, cheeks heating again. “You don’t hate me, you liiiike me. You have _feeeelings_ for me.”

“My _god_ , just shut up and touch me,” Lance snapped and Shiro snorted, rolling his eyes and making quick work of unbuttoning Lance’s pants, and palming him through his underwear. 

Lance hissed softly, letting his eyes fall closed and Shiro captured his lips again. 

“I’m sorry for teasing,” he murmured and Lance melted against him.

“I thought puppies were supposed to be good,” he said and Shiro smiled against his lips. 

“I promise I’ll be good for you from now on.”

“Uh huh?” Lance asked and Shiro hummed in response. “Then take the rest of your clothes off.”

Shiro pulled back and looked at him and Lance raised an eyebrow challengingly. 

“Off. Now.”

Shiro laughed softly and got up, stripping off the rest of his clothes and getting back on the bed. “You _really_ don’t like not being in charge, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Lance agreed and Shiro moved to do the same for Lance, dropping their clothes off the edge of the bed, and Lance pulled Shiro back down over him. 

Shiro brought their lips together again and Lance looped his arms around his neck, kissing him back and rocking his hips against Shiro’s, their erections sliding against each other with each movement and they moaned into each other’s mouths, Shiro reaching between them to wrap his hand around them. 

Lance groaned softly and Shiro gently bit at his lower lip, running his fist over them at a steady pace, both of them rocking their hips and pushing into his hand, licking into each other's mouths and swallowing each other's noises. 

It didn’t take them long after that, Lance felt so desperate and he hated it and loved it at the same time, the way Shiro was all over him, pressing him against the bed, licking into his mouth, hand wrapped firmly around both of their lengths, working them quickly to completion, there was no way he stood a chance of lasting. 

Shiro lasted longer than he did, of course, and didn’t let go of Lance as he finished himself off, clearly enjoying the little whimpers that Lance was giving at the extra friction as he tried to squirm away from it. 

They both lay there panting for a few minutes afterward, Lance’s stomach a… complete mess, but Lance was past caring, Shiro nestled on top of him, face tucked under his chin, and Lance was tracing soft patterns with his fingertips over Shiro’s back. 

“You’re warm,” Shiro mumbled after a few minutes. 

“Get off me then,” Lance said back, but neither of them moved. 

“No, your fingers,” he said.

“Oh,” Lance replied, opening his eyes to look over Shiro’s shoulder to where his fingertips were tracing over his skin, little wisps of purple following in their wake. “Sorry.” 

“I like it,” he mumbled and Lance smiled softly, not stopping his movements, watching as the colours swirled on Shiro’s pale skin. 

“We should clean up,” Lance said after a long few minutes, not wanting to move, but also feeling a little uncomfortable at this point. 

Shiro hummed, sitting up and stretching, standing up and leaning down to scoop Lance up into his arms before he had a chance to move. 

“What are you doing?” Lance asked and Shiro grinned at him. 

“Carrying you into the bathroom,” he said, as if it was obvious, setting Lance down on the side as he moved to put the plug in the bath and turn on the water.

It was more of… a hot tub than a bath, big enough for more than two people, even, and plenty deep. Once it was filled a little, Shiro picked Lance up and sat him down in the bath, getting in after him and pulling him into his lap. 

“What are you doing?” Lance asked again and Shiro gave a soft laugh, dropping a kiss on Lance’s shoulder. 

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

Lance’s brows pinched as Shiro began to gently clean him off. “I- okay,” he said softly, giving in and relaxing against him, letting Shiro’s hands wash over him along with the water and tucking his face into Shiro’s neck. 

“I like this Lance,” Shiro said after a few minutes and Lance made a small confused noise. 

“What’s different about this Lance?”

“He’s vulnerable,” Shiro murmured and Lance tensed. “It’s not a bad thing.”

Lance frowned but didn’t make to move away as his instincts told him to. “No?”

“Not at all,” Shiro said, holding him closer. 

“Okay,” Lance said softly after a few moments, letting out a long breath. 

“Do you want to stay the night?” Shiro asked and Lance was quiet for a long moment. 

“Uh huh,” he said quietly, nodding. Yeah, he did. 

Maybe… maybe this was something he didn’t need to think so hard about. He knew this wasn’t going to be forever, this wasn’t going to last… there was no way that it could. So maybe he could just… have it, for now. Just enjoy whatever this was, this beautiful thing, and just… be. 

“Lance, are you okay?” Shiro murmured and Lance pulled up to look at him, cupping his face with wet hands. 

“Yeah, I think so,” he nodded, leaning in and nudging their noses together, before gently kissing his lips. 

“Yeah?” Shiro asked with a soft smile and Lance nodded.

“Yeah,” he said, letting himself nestle back against Shiro as they relaxed in the water. 

They sat in the bath until the water cooled, and then Lance laid his palms above the surface, reheating it for them, watching as Shiro looked at him in awe. 

“Are you ever going to stop looking at me like that?” Lance asked with a soft smile and Shiro shook his head. 

Lance laughed and sparked his fingertips a little, before changing the water from clear to pink, Shiro’s eyes widening. 

“You’re amazing,” he murmured, pressing a kiss in the curve of his neck. 

“Thanks, I know,” Lance replied teasingly and Shiro snorted. 

“Can you stop our skin going all wrinkly?”

Lance hummed. “Technically yes, but we should probably get out,” he said with a smile and Shiro pouted. 

“Fine,” he huffed, standing up and offering a hand to Lance. 

Lance took it gratefully, and got out of the bath, getting a towel and wrapping it around himself, watching Shiro as he fidgeted. 

“You… okay?” he asked and Shiro blinked and nodded. 

“Um, yes, I just have to, um-” he said, before doing a big shake, water flying off of his tail and his hair before he gave Lance a sheepish smile and got a towel for himself. 

Lance laughed and rolled his eyes. “You could probably get rid of those if you wanted,” he said and Shiro shrugged. 

“I like them,” he said, tail wagging a little and Lance smiled, biting his lip. “And besides,” he said, giving him a sly smile. “ _You_ like them.”

“I- what?” Lance asked, feeling his cheeks heat. 

“You like them,” Shiro said smugly and Lance scowled. 

“I do n- fine,” he said, folding his arms over his chest and huffing. “I like them. Happy?”

“Very,” Shiro grinned, wrapping Lance up in his arms and backing him up towards the bed, falling down with him onto it and not letting go. 

Lance gave a soft laugh, wriggling out of his grasp and drying himself off with the towel, before curling up on the bed, watching Shiro as he did the same. 

“How was last night?” Lance asked as Shiro curled against him, Lance gently trailing his fingers over Shiro’s side. 

“It was okay,” Shiro said softly. “Not great, but… Running it off helped.”

Lance nodded. “I’m uh, I’m sorry for everything I said yesterday,” he said and Shiro looked at him with a soft smile. 

“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it,” Shiro said back and Lance sighed, contentedly, pulling Shiro against him. “Are you tired?” he asked and Lance nodded, eyes closed. “Cute.”

“What exactly about being tired is cute?” Lance asked with a snort. 

“Nothing, you just are in general.”

“Shut up,” Lance retorted with a huff. “You’re not allowed to say things like that.”

“Why not? I’ve touched your dick, are we not at that level?”

“Touching my dick and calling me cute are not remotely in any way comparable,” Lance said.

Shiro shrugged and kissed his cheek, snuggling beside him. “Can I be the big spoon?” Shiro asked.

“No,” Lance said, wrapping his arms around Shiro in defiance.

Shiro laughed and settled against him. “One day.” 

“No,” Lance said again, holding him tighter. 

“Why not?” Shiro laughed.

“I’m eight hundred years old, I won’t have you babying me.”

“But you liked it when I called you baby,” Shiro said and Lance could hear the grin on his face. 

“I didn’t, now shut up and go to sleep.”

“Okay, baby,” Shiro replied and Lance grumbled. 

“I’ll go back to my own room in a minute.”

“No, you won’t,” Shiro said, and he was right. 

Neither of them spoke again after that, Lance resting his head between Shiro’s shoulder blades, arm thrown over his waist and Shiro nestled back against him. Lance hadn’t had someone next to him in bed for even longer than he’d gone without sex, so it wasn’t surprising that he was asleep within moments, having a better nights sleep than he’d had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeety yeet its gay time
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro nodded, sighing and turning onto his back, looking up at the canopy. “Lance…? Can I ask you something?” 
> 
> “Mhm, what is it?” Lance asked, tilting his head. 
> 
> “What is this? For you?” he asked, glancing at him and then glancing away again. 
> 
> Lance was quiet for a few moments, not quite sure what to say. He knew what it was, and what he wanted it to be, and what he didn’t want it to be, what it could be, and what it must not be, but… he didn’t know how to explain any of that to Shiro. 
> 
> “Can you… ask me that when we get back?”
> 
> Shiro sighed. “Yeah,” he said, sounding dejected.

Shiro was awake when Lance woke the next morning, he’d turned onto his back and Lance had somehow curled against his side in his sleep, and Shiro was gently playing with his hair. It was… Lance hated it. He hated it and he wanted it to stop, but he made no attempt to move, or tell Shiro not to do it anymore, just laid there for a few minutes basking in it. 

“I know you’re awake,” Shiro murmured and Lance gave a soft sleepy grumble, frowning up at him and not opening his eyes yet. 

“Not.”

“Yes you are, baby,” Shiro murmured and it took Lance a moment to remember that he was supposed to hate that, and it wasn’t supposed to make him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and he glared at him, finally opening his eyes. 

“Don’t call me that.”

Shiro just looked at him amusedly and kissed his forehead. So this was… a thing now, it seemed. A thing that was continuing into the next day, and probably the next and the next. Lance… was more okay with that than he should have been. 

“Did you sleep well?” Shiro asked. 

“No, you were uncomfortable,” he said and Shiro gave him an unimpressed look. “Yes, I slept well.”

He laughed softly. “Me too,” he said, brushing Lance’s hair from his face and tucking a lock behind his ear. 

“D’you know what time it is?” Lance asked, not moving, just content to lay here in Shiro’s arms for as long as physically possible before he had to get up. 

“No, they don’t really have clocks around here. But the sun’s up, so… mid morning, I guess.”

Lance huffed. “I gotta go to work,” he said, and Shiro held onto him tighter. 

“Stay here,” he said and Lance’s lips curled. 

“I can’t do that, puppy,” he said, looking up at him with a soft smile. 

“Please?”

“I can’t,” Lance said again, sitting up and moving away from Shiro a little. 

“You’re so cute,” Shiro said with an affectionate smile and Lance glared at him. 

“What did I do _this_ time?”

“You’re just… you’re all cute and soft and then you remember to try and put your walls back up, but then they’re gone again the next moment. You’re like a little hedgehog trying to curl up and be all prickly, but… you’re not, and you don’t want to be, either.”

Lance huffed and didn’t say anything, averting his eyes. 

“You’re kinda giving me mixed messages,” Shiro elaborated and Lance frowned, looking at him. “I mean, you’re the one that kissed me, and then… kept kissing me.”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, biting his lip. “I’m sorry. I… haven’t um…” he sighed, collecting his thoughts. “I haven’t really been vulnerable around someone for… well… kind of since my wife died. I mean, I’ve had... flings, I guess, but that was all sex and no feelings, and this…”

“Is feelings?” Shiro asked softly and Lance averted his eyes. 

“It would seem so,” he said quietly. 

“Is that such a bad thing?” Shiro asked, tilting his head, and Lance softened, reaching out to gently scratch his ear. 

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said with a small smile and Shiro returned it. 

Lance sighed softly, biting his lip and hesitating, before leaning back over to Shiro and kissing him gently. He felt Shiro smile against his lips and gently cup his head, lacing his fingers through his hair and holding him. 

“Get ready for work, baby,” Shiro murmured and Lance looked down, cheeks heating. “And don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

“No more than you pretend you don’t like puppy, puppy,” Lance countered with a small smile, before getting up out of bed and stretching, gathering his clothes up off of the floor and turning back to find Shiro watching him amusedly. 

“Touche,” he said with a grin as Lance pulled his clothes on. 

“I’ll see you later then,” Lance said, biting his lip before heading for the door. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” he said, and Lance looked at him for a moment more, before opening the door and heading across to his own room to change. 

This was a bad idea. Lance knew that, he _knew_ that. It wasn’t going to last and everyone was going to get hurt, but… he hadn’t had something like this in a very long time, and… it felt nice. It felt nice to have someone look at him the way Shiro looked at him, it felt nice to have someone hold him like that, the soft press of lips on his skin and brushing his hair from his face. Looking at him like he was beautiful, like he was _precious_. And Shiro… well, Shiro was everything. Shiro was incredible. He was someone that Lance didn’t deserve to have in his life, and yet he did, and… Shiro didn’t deserve to get hurt by this. 

But Lance was selfish. 

He was a few hours into work by the time the high priestess paid him a visit, watching from afar for a few moments while Lance made some minor adjustments to the potion, before turning to look at her. 

“Good morning, Romelle,” he said and she gave him a smile. 

“Early afternoon, actually, I see you’ve lost track of time.”

“Well, it can be easy to do,” Lance said, gesturing to where everything was set up. 

“I also see there has been a development., she said with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow. 

Lance gave her a questioning look in return. 

“The canine’s scent clings to you,” she explained. “And I see he’s marked his territory, too.” Lance flushed, remembering the marks that Shiro had left on his neck. “A wolf, really, Lance?” she said, almost condescendingly. 

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” he asked, bristling. 

“Why don’t you?” she countered and Lance frowned. “You know it’s not going to last, Lance, you’re a witch and he’s a wolf, the world must turn so quickly for him.”

Lance swallowed and looked down. 

“Like you said, it’s so easy to lose track of time. You blink and suddenly a decade has passed us by, just like that.” 

“Yes,” Lance agreed. 

“I remember when you were young, just two hundred years old. Seems like only yesterday, doesn’t it?”

“Mm,” Lance said noncommittally, suddenly feeling incredibly hot and like he couldn’t breathe. 

“I’ll leave you, now,” she said with a sweet smile. “I just wanted to see how you were getting on.”

“I was getting on fine,” Lance said, not looking up at her, and she cupped his cheek. 

“I’m only trying to look out for you, Lance,” she said. “We’ve known each other a long time, after all.”

“I know,” Lance said, not meeting her eyes. “I know it won’t last, it was never intended to. We’ll be going our separate ways soon anyway, he’s gotten much better with his transformations and soon he’ll no longer need me.”

She bowed her head in understanding, and left without another word, and Lance was left with a bitter taste in his mouth. He already knew all of that, he did. But that didn’t make it any easier to hear. They could address those issues when they were back home and Shiro had somewhere to go, whether it be home or to a pack. There was no point talking about it now, anyway, or maybe there was and Lance just didn’t want to. 

Either way, he spent the rest of the day on edge, going for a walk in the gardens as dusk fell, not wanting to go upstairs just yet. 

He hadn’t been walking for long when Shiro came up beside him, in wolf form, brushing against his leg and Lance let his fingers stroke through his fur, sitting down at the base of a tree, hidden away from sight of the palace and Shiro sat next to him, looking at him curiously. 

“You feeling okay?” Lance asked softly, gently scratching under Shiro’s chin. 

Shiro bowed his head in a nod, wagging his tail. Right. 

“So this was… you did this?” he asked and Shiro wagged harder. “You’re getting good,” Lance said with a small smile. “I saw you out here the other day chasing a rabbit. Soon the painful ones will go away all together, and it’ll just happen on a full moon.”

Shiro gave a soft whine and nudged Lance’s cheek with his nose. 

“It’s kind of hard to have a one sided conversation, here. I’m a lot of things but I’m not a mind reader,” he said, but Shiro didn’t change back, just curled up on his lap instead. “You won’t need me anymore,” he murmured and Shiro blew out a snort of denial. 

Lance rolled his eyes, stroking Shiro’s back.

“It’s true,” he persisted, but then gave up with a heavy sigh. “We won’t need to be here much longer, four more days, maybe. The last few days are the most important so I’ll need to spend a lot of time working, but you should enjoy the grounds while you can. There’s not anything like this east. Just cities and parks, nothing… like this.”

They sat in silence for a very long time, Lance’s fingers entangled in Shiro’s fur until he wasn’t really aware of much anymore, just the gentle rise and fall of Shiro’s breathing, and the soft summer evening breeze. 

When he woke up it was to Shiro- human Shiro- carrying him up down the wing to their rooms. He shifted, making a small sleepy sound and looking up at him. Shiro smiled down at him, before opening his bedroom door and carrying Lance inside, setting him down on the bed. 

Lance let him undress him, and curl up next to him, pulling Lance into his arms and this time Lance didn’t protest, just melted against him, letting his eyes close again. 

“I’ll always need you,” Shiro murmured, dropping a gentle kiss to Lance’s head. 

Lance frowned a little at that, too tired to properly think about it, and didn’t say anything in response. Shiro didn’t, either, and the two of them were asleep in moments. 

***

Waking up to Shiro was something that Lance got used to quicker than he would have maybe liked. He’d almost forgotten over the years how touch orientated he’d used to be, so waking up in Shiro’s arms or with Shiro in his was just… well, it was really, really nice. 

Things had shifted between them, of course, and Lance would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. They were on more of an equal ground now, from Shiro realising that it was requited, and that Lance liked him back, he’d become more confident, and more than half the time he was the one to initiate things. Lance liked this confident Shiro. The Shiro that knew he was cared for and knew that Lance liked the things that went on between them, even if he pretended that he didn’t. 

Shiro spent his time outside while Lance worked, and sometimes he’d pass by the conservatory, and Lance would be distracted for just long enough to realise that he was, watching him with an affectionate smile as he practiced being in control of the wolf inside of him, transforming mostly with ease, though admittedly more quickly each time he set his sights on a rabbit. 

He’d only caught one, so far, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. The first one he’d caught had made the little servant girl he was with burst into tears, and so he hadn’t dared catch another, just chasing them and getting his energy out. 

Everyone knew what was going on between them, it seemed, not just Romelle. They ate in the dining hall and everyone eyed them, but it didn’t bother Lance. He knew that to the fae their intermingling scents were intense, and the marks that Shiro left were prevalent (like Romelle had said; Shiro marking his territory).

He knew what people thought of wolves around here, and so Lance made an effort to keep Shiro away from the people that glared at him, watching him run through the grounds with the children who’d grown to like him, and then the evenings and nights they would spend wrapped up in one another in one of their chambers. 

Things hadn’t been this good or carefree in a while, and while there was always the lingering knowledge in the back of Lance’s mind that it wasn’t going to last… Why should he have to give this up now? Just because in the future it wouldn’t be so? Why couldn’t he enjoy being happy, for once, with someone he cared about?

And so he did. He pushed all of his doubts to the back of his mind, let his walls down and stopped bristling so much at the comments Shiro would make. Instead, he let himself flush and a smile grace his lips, he let himself be embarrassed and giggly and bury himself in Shiro’s arms wishing that this would never end. Because he was falling harder and faster than he could possibly control, but he didn’t want to. 

Currently, Shiro was sitting on the window seat, window wide open and evening breeze running through his hair as he looked outside and took in all of the different scents. Lance was lounging on the bed, supposedly flicking through a book he’d found, but in all actuality, he was watching Shiro. Specifically, watching as his tail would start to wag every time the wind picked up and he got an interesting scent in the air, or his ears would flick each time an owl hooted, or the trees rustled. 

Lance met his eyes, absolutely sure there was a lovesick smile on his face as Shiro glanced at him. 

“What?” he asked, cheeks pinkening. 

“Nothing,” Lance said, smile only widening. 

“Whaaat?” Shiro said with a huff, pouting a little. 

“Nothing!” Lance insisted, biting his lip. 

“You’re looking at me like…” Shiro said, trailing off as his brows pinched. 

“Yeah, I am,” Lance confirmed, not knowing exactly what he’d been getting at, but pretty sure that he could fill in the blanks himself, and that it would all be completely true. He _was_ staring at Shiro like a lovesick fool, he knew that. 

Shiro huffed again, cheeks darkening further and he came over to the bed, rolling Lance over onto his back and laying on top of him, pouting harder at him. 

“What, puppy?”

“I don’t know,” Shiro grumbled softly and Lance smiled, brushing his hair off of his face and leaning up to press a kiss to the corner of his lips. 

Shiro immediately melted against him, chasing his lips when Lance pulled back and giving a soft contented hum against his lips, before pulling back with a soft smile and burying his face in Lance’s neck. 

“Guess I’m done reading, then,” Lance said amusedly. 

“You weren’t reading, you were looking at me,” Shiro mumbled. 

“Well, you got me there,” Lance said, wrapping his arms around Shiro and beginning to trace gentle patterns onto his back. 

“You’re not doing the warm thing,” Shiro complained after a moment and Lance laughed softly, pulling Shiro’s shirt up to expose his back. 

“Sorry, darling,” he murmured, tracing his fingers over Shiro’s back, leaving little wisps of purples, pinks and blues in their wake in patterns over his skin. 

Shiro gave a soft happy sigh against him, and Lance could feel him smiling where his lips were pressed against his neck. They laid like that for a little while, and Lance was pretty sure that Shiro fell asleep at one point, but eventually he rolled off of him, looking at him with a sleepy smile. 

“Morning,” Lance said softly and Shiro wrinkled his nose, yawning.

“Did I fall asleep?”

“Mm, I think so,” Lance nodded, reaching out to brush Shiro’s hair from his face. 

“You like doing that,” Shiro said with an amused smile.

“Well, it just kind of, flops there,” Lance said, frowning at the offending piece of hair. “Makes me wanna move it so I can see your pretty face better.”

Shiro flushed, burying his head back against Lance. “I think I liked you better when you were being a little hedgehog.”

“Aw, you don’t mean that,” Lance said with a light laugh. 

“No, I don’t,” Shiro grumbled, pulling back to look at him with a pout. 

“Why are you being so pouty today?”

“Because… we’re going home soon.”

“Don’t you want to go home?”

“No, I wanna stay here, I like it here.”

Lance bit his lip. “I thought you wanted to get back to your family.”

“I do…” Shiro said, frowning. “I just… being here feels like time doesn’t exist. Like we’ve just… escaped from everything. And when we go home…” He’d leave. 

Lance could put the pieces together. Shiro didn’t want it any more than he did. 

“Well… we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, okay?”

Shiro nodded, sighing and turning onto his back, looking up at the canopy. “Lance…? Can I ask you something?” 

“Mhm, what is it?” Lance asked, tilting his head. 

“What is this? For you?” he asked, glancing at him and then glancing away again. 

Lance was quiet for a few moments, not quite sure what to say. He knew what it was, and what he wanted it to be, and what he didn’t want it to be, what it could be, and what it must not be, but… he didn’t know how to explain any of that to Shiro. 

“Can you… ask me that when we get back?”

Shiro sighed. “Yeah,” he said, sounding dejected. 

It wasn’t a positive answer, they both knew that. But at the end of the day this wasn’t meant to last. What Lance knew was that he had feelings for Shiro. He’d fallen head over heels hard and fast and he never should have let himself, but he did. But the truth was… they couldn’t be together. A wolf and a witch just wouldn’t work. Lance was eight hundred years old and Shiro was in his early twenties… Shiro wouldn’t make it another hundred years, let alone… longer than that. Shiro belonged with a pack, or with his family, not with Lance. 

Lance had lived a long life and for every ally he’d made two enemies. There were people that hated him, people that wanted to hurt him for the things that he’d done or helped people do, and keeping himself closed off was the only way to combat that. 

Too many people already knew of his affections for Shiro, he couldn’t let any more find out or he’d always be in danger. He couldn’t do it again, he couldn’t go through losing someone again, and he was going to lose Shiro either way when time got the better of them. So they couldn’t be together and that was just the way that it was. 

Shiro rolled over to face away from Lance, clearly doing his best to stop his ears from drooping, but Lance could read the signs. 

“Puppy…” Lance said softly, shuffling over on the bed behind him, curling his body around Shiro’s. “Come on.”

“What is that supposed to _mean_ , Lance?” Shiro asked, turning to face him, a frown etched on his forehead. “Am I just some… fling? That ends as soon as we get home and you can find someone to palm me off onto?”

“You know that’s not what this is,” Lance replied, hurt that Shiro would even think that. 

“Then tell me!”

“I… care about you, _so much_. So much that it's terrifying. And I want this, you know I want this, so please… please let’s just talk about it when we get home, we can talk about everything, please let’s just not ruin it yet,” he murmured and Shiro looked down. 

“You think things are going to be ruined?”

Lance sighed. “I don’t want them to be,” he said, and that was the truth. They would be, Lance knew that, but he _didn’t_ want them to be. He wanted to keep Shiro, wanted to hold onto him for as long as he could.

Shiro gave a small nod, looking down. 

“Hey…” Lance said softly, cupping his face. He knew there was nothing he could say to make it better without lying, but… he didn’t want to see Shiro upset, either.

“What?” Shiro asked, meeting his eyes, own glossed over and Lance let out a small breath, pulling Shiro close. 

“This is real,” he murmured. “What we have right here right now is real, and that’s all that matters.” 

Shiro nodded, melting against him, and Lance held him close. Neither of them said anything after that, but Shiro let Lance undress him and get him into bed, curling himself around him and holding Shiro close against his chest, pressing a kiss to his temple.

It had only been a mere few weeks since they’d even met, a month, perhaps, and only a handful of days since this had happened… but for someone who hadn’t felt love for centuries now, it sure as hell felt a lot like that. He couldn’t tell him though, it would only hurt more when things fell apart… 

They stayed like that for a little while, before Shiro’s breathing evened out, telling Lance that he’d fallen asleep. Lance lay awake for a little while longer, a frown etched onto his forehead as he lost himself in thought, but eventually was taken by sleep, too.

***

The last few days flew by. Shiro had seemingly done as Lance had asked and put that conversation on the back burner, just enjoying the time they had left here. 

Lance was down at the conservatory a lot, and Shiro was really getting used to his transformations, Lance able to watch him sometimes when he went past, switching forms easily and running quickly through the grass. The nights they still spent wrapped up in each other, with loving kisses and touches and unspoken words.

All too soon, however, it was time to leave. They’d packed up their things, and Lance had bottled the potion, given it to Romelle and received his payment, and he and Shiro were shown out. 

They walked a little way out before Lance opened the portal, both of them wanting to enjoy the weather and the scenery before they left, hands interlocked and swinging between them, before finally reaching the edge of the town and Lance sighed, sparking his fingertips and opening up the portal back to his home, the both of them stepping through as it closed behind them.

“Well… it has to be said, while that potion is a bitch to brew, it’s not exactly hard work to stay there for a week or so to do it,” he said and Shiro sighed. 

“Yeah, it was really nice.”

“It’s a pity I won’t be called back for another hundred years or so,” he said and his breath caught, turning to look at Shiro.

“Right,” Shiro said, eyes trained on the floor. 

So, Shiro wouldn’t be coming, then. 

“Shiro-” Lance said and Shiro held up a hand. 

“I get it, okay? This must seem… so small to you. I must seem so small to you.”

“You don’t,” Lance said softly, frowning. “You’re the brightest thing I’ve seen for a very long time.”

“That doesn’t change things.”

“No,” Lance agreed. “It doesn’t. Do you get it now?” Lance asked. “You could be with me for the rest of your life.” 

“I know,” Shiro said, not looking up.

“And then I would lose you.”

“I know.”

“And maybe that’s alright with you, because you’re not the one that has to do the losing, you get to die, and things finally will be quiet, and you won’t have to _lose_. But I can never have that. Things will never be quiet for me and I will _always_ lose. Whether it’s today or next week, or if it’s in ten years or eighty, I will _lose you_.”

Shiro still didn’t look up at him, taking in a shaky breath. 

“You only have one life, Shiro. You have a family, you have everything you wanted before this. Don’t let this stop you, _please_. Go back to them and be happy. This won’t be a hindrance if you don’t let it. It can be an enhancement.”

“Everything I wanted before seems a little pointless, now,” he said quietly. 

“And your family? It’s been a month now. Don’t you miss them?”

“Of _course_ I miss them,” Shiro said harshly, finally looking up at him, eyes filled with tears. 

“You need to go to them.”

“When you said leave this until we got back, I didn’t think you’d be kicking me out as soon as we got here.”

“I’m just trying to do what’s best for you.”

“No!” Shiro snapped. “You’re trying to do what’s best for you!”

Lance clenched his jaw, biting back a snap in response. “You don’t want to waste your life on this, because you’re infatuated! You don’t want to waste your life on me!”

“No, Lance,” Shiro said with a tired sigh. “ _You_ don’t want me to waste my life on you. You don’t _know_ what I want, you don’t _know_ what’s best for me, you just know what you want and you’re doing everything you can to protect yourself. Well guess what?” he asked with a bitter laugh. “ _You_ kissed _me_.” 

“Shiro…”

“Don’t,” Shiro said. “You can take me back now, I won’t be needing my bag, because nothing in there is actually mine.”

Lance looked at the bag and picked it up, thrusting it at him. “If that’s what you want.” 

“We just established that’s what _you_ want,” he said, and Lance looked down, opening up a portal to where Shiro had said he’d lived and Shiro looked through it and then back at Lance. “When you said you didn’t want this to be ruined, I actually believed you,” he said, before stepping through it, and it closed behind him before Lance could say anything in response. 

And so Shiro was gone. 

Lance swallowed, looking around his empty house. He sniffed, going to get his phone and calling Hunk. 

He picked up after three rings. “Hey, buddy, sorry I didn’t get back to you yet-”

“It’s fine,” Lance cut him off, voice thick with tears. 

“Are you alright?” Hunk asked worriedly and Lance sniffed again, leaning against his wall and sliding down to the floor. 

“I fucked up.” 

“Are you hurt?” Hunk asked and Lance could have laughed. Of course he was hurt. 

“No.”

“Is it… about that wolf that you weren’t keeping?”

Lance bit down hard on his lip to stop a small noise escaping him. “I fucked up so bad.”

“Is _he_ alright?”

“He’s home,” Lance said thickly.

“Oh, well… that’s good then, right?” 

“Yeah,” Lance murmured. 

“So why are you crying?” Hunk asked kindly. 

“Because I fell in love with him,” Lance murmured, hardly daring to say it outloud. 

“You... Oh, Lance…” Hunk said softly. “What happened?”

“I kissed him, when we were away… we were… together, we were happy, I… was happy. But I fucked it up, I tried to tell him that we can’t be together because- god, there’s _so_ many reasons Hunk, and every outcome ends up with me losing him. Every single damn one.”

“And what did he say?”

“He got mad at me for being selfish, that… I was trying to push him away so that I wouldn’t get hurt later and then pretending I was doing it for him, and he’s right… He’s right. And then he left. He left and he told me that when I said I didn’t want this to be ruined he’d believed me, like… like I’d lied to him, like I’d led him on, and I did, _god, I did_ , Hunk, I kissed him. _I_ kissed him, I did this, and now he’s gone and he’s angry and he’s hurt and he’s gone, and _Hunk_ , it _hurts_ ,” he said, voice becoming more shaky as he went and tears dripped down his cheek. 

“Lance…” Hunk said softly. “Oh, Lance, I’m sorry.” 

“I just want things to be fixed.”

“I know. But… this is for the best, you know that, right? You _can’t_ be together. He’s going to die one way or another, and if anyone catches wind of your feelings then they could use that against you, you and I _both_ know how many people would do anything to hurt you… He’s safer being away from you, and if you fix things… then he’s going to want to fight for it, and then he’s going to be in danger. You did the right thing, even though it hurts now, you did the right thing,” Hunk said soothingly, but that only made Lance cry harder.

God, he hadn’t had reason to cry in longer than he could remember, but now that he’d started, he couldn’t get himself to stop; they just kept coming and coming and coming and he couldn’t breathe. 

He knew that Hunk was right, he knew that he was right, but… he couldn’t stand the idea of Shiro being mad at him, hating him for doing this, hurting… or him being away at all. 

“Breathe for me, Lance, I need you to take some deep breaths for me, okay?” he said and Lance did his best, taking him a fair few minutes to calm himself down enough, breathing still shaky, but more even. 

“I know,” he said thickly. “I know you’re right, I just… I wish I’d never fallen for him. I wish I’d never met him. I want… I want to have him around for the rest of my life… not his, _mine_.”

“I’m sorry, Lance,” Hunk said sadly. “I know this isn’t easy for you. It’ll get better. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but it will get better.”

Lance sniffed and nodded, blowing out a long breath. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Yeah, I know.”

“You gonna be okay? You want me to come over?” 

“No, no, I’ll be alright,” Lance said, brows pinching. “I’m just, uh, gonna have a long bath and a long sleep, I think.” 

“Alright. Call me if you need me, okay? And I mean that.”

“Yeah, I will,” Lance nodded. “Thanks, Hunk,” he said, before ending the call and heaving a long heavy sigh. 

He sat there on the floor for a very long time, before finally heaving himself up off of the floor and wiping his face. He headed into the bathroom and stripped off, glaring at his bath and making a mental note to upgrade it to one similar to that that they’d had in their bathrooms at the palace. Those were much better. 

He ran the water and sank into it, biting his lip and trying to relax his forehead out of the frown that it had creased into. There was nothing he could do about it, now. Shiro was gone, and it was over, and that was that. Shiro was gone and he was _safe_ , and that was what mattered. He was angry and he was hurt, yes, but he was safe. Lance would never have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to him because of him. 

It was done, and tomorrow, Lance would resume trade and get on with his life, and in time he would come to forget about Shiro, and then Shiro would be gone. Lance would still be here. Another hundred years, five hundred, a thousand, Lance would still be here and Shiro would be long gone and this would be but a distant memory. 

It was going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol remember when u thought this would be fluff haha
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had just been a whisper, at first. Something he’d overheard on a delivery. He’d long forgotten about the crystal, having only been three hundred last time one had formed, but he knew about the myths. 
> 
> All they were were myths, of course, Lance knew that. It was a sacred crystal, which had properties unlike any other, and it only formed once every five hundred years under very specific circumstances. 
> 
> Lance had tried not to dwell on it too much, because all they were were myths, none of it was real. But he knew that there had been talk of the ancients grinding the crystal down and using its powder for potions. They were some of the most powerful potions in the world, and could do a great many number of things good or bad. One of those things… being to extend the life of a mortal.

The weeks went quickly by, and Lance managed to push Shiro further and further from his mind. He hated the way that they’d ended things, but there was nothing that either of them could do about it now, and soon Shiro would be nothing but a distant memory. 

He’d buried himself in work, taking on job after job, maybe a little more than normal, so that he had barely any free time, but that was okay, he didn’t have anything to do in his free time, anyway. 

It had just been a whisper, at first. Something he’d overheard on a delivery. He’d long forgotten about the crystal, having only been three hundred last time one had formed, but he knew about the myths. 

All they were were myths, of course, Lance knew that. It was a sacred crystal, which had properties unlike any other, and it only formed once every five hundred years under very specific circumstances. 

Lance had tried not to dwell on it too much, because all they were were myths, none of it was real. But he knew that there had been talk of the ancients grinding the crystal down and using its powder for potions. They were some of the most powerful potions in the world, and could do a great many number of things good or bad. One of those things… being to extend the life of a mortal. 

It wasn’t real. Lance knew it wasn’t real, but once he’d started thinking about it he couldn’t stop. It was crazy… it was absolutely crazy because there was no telling if Shiro would even _want_ that, let alone that it would _work_.

So despite everything, Lance researched. He researched and researched and with everything that he found, the more faith he was putting in this stupid crystal, this stupid myth. 

But he needed something to focus on, so he went ahead, mapped out where it would be formed and let Hunk know that he’d be gone a few days, since he’d been checking in with him a lot since Shiro had left. He packed a bag and portal’d there. He had to start quite a way away from the mountain, as the closer he got the more dangerous it would be to use his magic, before it went dead inside of the cave. 

It was dangerous. It was… more danger than he’d put himself in for a long time, but… he had to at least try. Even if it didn’t work, even if Shiro didn’t want it, he had to know that he’d tried. That he’d done something, he hadn’t just watched him walk away. 

It took longer than Lance would have expected, the trek up there taking a good many days more than he’d planned to be gone. He’d been sure to camp out at night and get enough rest before continuing his way. If he couldn’t use his magic then he needed to make sure that he was in the best state to defend himself. 

It was a highly rare and dangerous crystal, after all. There was no doubt that others would be after it. The only edge that Lance had on them, was perhaps that he’d come a few days early, that he’d have to camp out in the heart of the cave for a little while until the crystal was ready, and then he could be the first to take it. 

It was tough, and certainly not the lavishery he’d become accustomed to lately, but this was important. 

So far, everything was going according to plan. He’d finally managed to get into the cave, navigating through its chambers by only a small light until finally, he reached the heart of it, where the crystal sat, directly under the opening in the top of the cave, just enough to let the moonlight in, making its surface glimmer. 

It wasn’t ready yet, but thankfully, no one else was here, so Lance set his things down, preparing to camp out here until it was. 

***

Finally, _finally_ on the third day, it was ready. He’d been watching it for a while now, watching its magic swirl under the surface and he went over to it, carefully extracting it and holding it in his hands. 

It was beautiful. He bit his lip as a small smile came onto his face. If this worked…? Then he and Shiro could be together. Not only that, but Shiro wouldn’t die; he’d have a long and happy life with Lance. 

Just as he went to put it into his bag, he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Oh god, Lance wasn’t ready to have a battle for this thing. 

“I wouldn’t be so quick to do that if I were you,” the voice said and Lance turned around slowly, heart dropping. 

It was Lotor, and he had Shiro by the neck, holding him tightly so that he couldn’t escape, a knife pressed against his abdomen. Shiro was looking at him with wide frightened eyes, breath coming in tiny short pants, like each one was a struggle to take in with how terrified he must have been. 

“What do you want?” Lance asked, voice shaking a little, eyes focused on where the sharp blade of the knife was pressed against Shiro; a slight movement and it would slice through his skin. 

“You know what I want,” Lotor said with a laugh and Lance swallowed thickly.

“I can’t give it to you,” Lance said carefully, eyes flicking between Lotor’s face, Shiro’s, and the blade. 

“It’s in your hands, Lance. Don’t make me kill your wolf,” he said, lip curling and Shiro yelped as Lotor pressed the blade a little, not enough to cut through his shirt, but enough to hurt. 

“You can’t ask me to do this, I _need_ it,” Lance said, standing his ground. It was going to be okay, he was going to find a way out of this. He couldn’t let Lotor get the crystal… He couldn’t. 

“Very well,” Lotor said with a smile, slicing the blade quickly through Shiro’s skin, Shiro crying out in pain as red bloomed on his clothes, and Lotor dropped him from his grasp, letting him crumple on the floor. 

A shout came from somewhere and it took Lance a moment to realise that it had come from his own mouth, and that he’d dropped the crystal, running over to Shiro and skidding to a stop on the floor by him.

Lotor scoffed, moving to pick up the crystal and giving Lance a smug smile on his way out. 

“Thanks, couldn’t have done it without you,” he said, and then he was gone, leaving Shiro bleeding out on the floor of this damp cave, a place where Lance couldn’t use his magic to save him. 

“Hey, hey, puppy, it’s gonna be okay,” Lance said, cradling him. “It’s gonna be okay, I promise.”

“I’m- I’m gonna die.” Shiro murmured, voice horse with pain and face screwed up, leaning against Lance. 

“No!” Lance said harshly. “No, you’re _not_ going to die, I won’t let you, Shiro, darling, you’re not going to die.”

“You can’t… use your magic here,” Shiro mumbled and Lance held him tighter. 

Lance’s chest felt tight, and he couldn’t breathe, wracking his brains to try and think of _something_ he could do to save him. 

“‘S okay, ‘s like you said,” Shiro mumbled. “You don’t… do nice things for people, ‘s nothing special about me.”

“ _Shiro_ ,” Lance said, resting his forehead against Shiro’s and holding him close. “Shiro, my darling, there is _everything_ special about you, you’re _everything_. You’re not going to die, you’re not, I can’t lose you- not yet, I’m not ready-”

Lance sat back, blowing out a long breath and looking at Shiro, before pulling his shirt off over his head and trying to tie it around Shiro’s waist. 

“We have to stop the bleeding, okay?” he said as he did so, managing to secure it over the laceration. “And we have to get out of here so I can get you home and heal you.”

“Uh huh,” Shiro nodded, though not making a move to get up. 

“Puppy, come on, you have to help me here, you have to _want_ to live,” Lance said, lifting one of Shiro’s arms over his shoulder and trying to heave him up. 

After a few attempts, Shiro managed to get up on his feet, swaying a little, but Lance kept his arm wrapped firmly around him. 

“Okay?” he asked as they took a few steps forward. “It’s gonna be okay, we’re gonna make it.” 

Shiro nodded, stumbling forward as Lance helped him walk, and together they began to walk out of the cave, Shiro stumbling and swaying as they went, Lance’s shirt dripping with blood, but with every step they took, they got closer to Lance being able to take them home. 

They only made it to the entrance of the cave before Shiro collapsed again, leaning against the wall and panting, face screwed up in pain and Lance held onto him, trying to keep him up. 

“Baby, come on, I can’t make a portal yet, it’s not safe, we have to get a little further,” he pleaded, but as much as he tried to pull Shiro up again, it was no use. 

“I can’t…” Shiro rasped. “I can’t…”

“ _Please…_ ,” Lance begged. “Shiro, please, you have to, you can’t die here. Not when it’s my fault.”

“S not your fault,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “S my fault.”

“No, sweetheart, it’s not your fault,” Lance murmured, gently cupping his face. “It’s my fault, I’ve done all of this. I should never have given into my feelings, because then no one would know about you, and you would have been safe.”

“S okay,” Shiro mumbled, head lolling onto Lance’s shoulder. “S okay, you were… you were worth it.”

Lance held onto him tightly, not knowing what else to do. Summoning a portal here was too dangerous… They’d only _just_ gotten out of the cave, so his magic wasn’t _completely_ cut off, but… it would be weak at best, and summoning a portal here, well… it could kill them both to try and go through it. 

There weren’t many things that could kill a witch, which was part of the reason as to why Lance had survived so long. However, as Lance knew better than anyone, the world used to be thriving with witches, and now there were only a handful scattered about the globe. 

And this was one of the ways. But, looking at Shiro… There was no way he was going to be able to move any further away, and Lance couldn’t let him die. 

Lance could leave him here to die, and keep on living for the rest of eternity; Shiro would only have less than a hundred years left, anyway… He could leave him. Or he could risk it, summon the portal and push them through. They might both live. They might both live but it be too late anyway, and for Shiro to die when they got home. Lance could be fatally injured. They could both die, they could both never make it through the portal, and Shiro was going to die anyway, one way or another…

Lance made up his mind, sparking his fingers and summoning the portal, grabbing onto Shiro and pushing them both through it. Shiro was going to die one way or another, yes… but Lance was prepared to die trying to save him if that’s what it took. That was a scary realisation, but it was the truth. 

They landed with a thud on Lance’s living room floor and Lance breathed a long sigh of relief. They’d made it.

He didn’t try to move Shiro again, just rolled him over onto his back, stretching his fingers and laying his hands over his wounds, closing his eyes and focusing. He needed to close them, he needed to stop the bleeding and he needed to save Shiro. 

Once he’d closed them part way, he removed his shirt where he’d tied it around him, and lifted Shiro’s own up, peeling it away from where it had stuck to his skin with the blood. It was a nasty wound, but Lance could do it, he could save him. 

He focused on healing them up as much as he could, before going to his kitchen to get something to clean him with, coming back with a dampened hand towel, and beginning to gently wipe away the blood from around his wound. 

“This is gonna leave a nasty scar, puppy,” Lance murmured as he gently cleaned him up, though Shiro didn’t move, or give any sort of response at all. 

Once he was done he carefully lifted Shiro up, carrying him down to the room that he’d stayed in while he was here and laid him down on the bed, before carefully removing the rest of his clothes and pulling the blankets up over him. 

Lance slowly moved to sit on the bed next to him, gently stroking his hair, feeling a little pang as he realised that Shiro’s wolf ears weren’t there anymore, and he supposed he couldn’t very well have those out when he was back in the real world.

Shiro had been right though; he’d liked them. 

He stayed with Shiro for what felt like hours, and even then, he just curled up next to him and fell asleep. His wounds were healed, but Shiro was still out cold… He just hoped that he was going to wake up again. 

The next morning he still hadn’t woken, and Lance forced himself to get up and shower. He wasn’t exactly in the best state of hygiene after a week and a half of trekking through the mountains and camping out in a cave, then trying to heave someone around who was bleeding to death. 

He stilled in the bathroom as he got ready for his shower, looking in the mirror. There were a few lacerations across his abdomen and chest, not unlike the one that Lotor had given Shiro, but Lance’s weren’t as deep, thankfully. He supposed it must have been the shock that had stopped him from noticing up until now, and it must have been travelling through the portal that had given them to him. 

In all honesty, he was lucky to have survived that trip, and he was lucky that this was all he’d come away with. There were purple bruises blossoming over his skin too. Lance frowned at them, before getting into the shower, sighing as the hot water washed over him. 

After his shower he went to the kitchen to get some food, wanting to go back to Shiro, but knowing that he had to eat something. He made something quickly and took it back to bed, not taking his eyes off of Shiro’s sleeping form. He’d lost a lot of blood, and… He… didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t wake up. 

Lance sighed, biting his lip and putting his empty plate on the bedside table, turning over to look at Shiro better, lifting the covers a little to look at how his wound was doing. It seemed to be healing nicely, and that was a good sign, so hopefully Shiro would wake up soon. 

It was a long few hours of waiting, Lance barely leaving the room, and always coming back to him, but Shiro did finally open his eyes, blinking up at Lance in confusion. 

“Hey, puppy,” Lance said gently, a smile breaking out over his face. “How’re you feeling?”

“Um-” Shiro said, wrinkling his nose. “Like I got hit by a truck.”

Lance laughed softly. “Yeah… But you’re okay, you’re gonna be okay now.”

Shiro smiled sleepily at him. “Thank you for saving me. I thought you said… you couldn’t make a portal there?” 

Lance bit his lip. “Technically, I shouldn’t have. Being so close to the mountain meant that my magic was very unstable, and… well, we both could have died going through that portal, but we didn’t.”

“You…” Shiro said, brows furrowing in confusion. “You would have died?” he asked and Lance nodded. “For… for me?”

“Yeah,” Lance said with a small nod. “But we’re okay. You’re okay.”

“I’m so sorry…” Shiro said sadly, looking down. 

“What d’you mean?” Lance asked softly. “You don’t need to be sorry, it’s not your fault.”

“It _is_ my fault, it’s _all_ my fault,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “I… I tried to get back in contact with you, I just wanted to make things right… but you weren’t here and I managed to get in contact with Hunk and he told me where you’d gone and that you should have been back by now, but you weren’t and I was scared for you, he told me about the cave, and that you couldn’t use your magic there, and… I thought you might have gotten hurt.” 

Lance stilled, suddenly very aware of each breath he took. What… What was Shiro saying?

“So I came after you, and then that man was there, and he attacked me, and it’s all my fault and I’m so sorry.”

Lance swallowed thickly, clenching his jaw. “You- you’re telling me that Lotor didn’t capture you, you just fell into his arms?”

“Lance, that’s not-”

“You’re _telling me_ ,” Lance said, cutting him off. “That you did this, that you made the decision to come and that you are the reason that I now don’t have that crystal.”

“Yes,” Shiro said quietly, biting his lip and looking up at him through his lashes. 

“That crystal only forms once every five _hundred_ years,” Lance said harshly. “By the time the next one forms it’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?” Shiro asked cautiously.

“It doesn’t matter!” Lance shouted, getting up off of the bed and raking a hand through his hair. “It doesn’t matter _anymore_. It’s too late, it’s _gone_ because of you.”

“Lance…” Shiro said, looking at him pleadingly. “I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t bring it back, Shiro!” Lance yelled. 

This was their only chance, their only chance to be together and Shiro had ruined it. Shiro had taken it away from them and now there was no chance, there was no chance and Shiro was going to die. Lance didn’t have the crystal, and Shiro was _still_ going to die. 

“I should have just left you there to die,” Lance spat and Shiro visibly recoiled. “You were right. There’s nothing special about you and I don’t love you. I should have left you.”

Lance didn’t say anything else after that, leaving the room and going down to his office, pacing as he tried to calm his heart rate down. There was nothing he could do, now. Shiro had fucked everything up. How could he have been so stupid?

Lance flinched as he heard his front door slam a little while later and he gave a shaky sigh, curling up in the corner of the room and resting his head in his knees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can we talk?” Shiro asked softly. “Please?”
> 
> “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lance said, looking down. 
> 
> “I know it’s over,” Shiro pressed. “But… It feels wrong to end it like this. _Please_.”
> 
> Lance sighed heavily, looking at him for a very long moment. “Okay,” he said, finally giving in. “Okay. Can you come by after you get off?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is late !! quarantine got my days rollin into one

Lance tried to reason with himself during the days to come that there was no telling that it would have worked, anyway. That… there were just too many obstacles between them, and that they just… weren’t meant to be together. It didn’t matter how happy Lance felt when he was around Shiro, the butterflies he’d get or the soft little smiles and waves of pure affection. Things shouldn’t have been this hard, and they were just too different. 

They’d had a shot, and maybe Lance had put too much faith in a myth, gotten too angry, but… there was nothing he could do about it now. He regretted yelling at Shiro like that, of course he did. He’d risked his life to save him, he’d never have just left him there to die. Shiro had come after him because he cared about him, because he thought that Lance had been in trouble, he couldn’t have known what would happen. But Shiro was gone and he’d been gone for a while now, and there was nothing that Lance could do about it; he didn’t know where he lived any more than a rough area.

But time wore on, albeit slower than how Lance was used to, but at a steady pace, forever passing, and the months went by. 

Lance tried to put Shiro at the back of his mind, tried to get over him, because soon the months would turn to years, and then one day Shiro would die, and that would be that. He’d be a memory. A happy memory, but a regretful one, and… that was all he’d ever be. Lance would keep going just like he always did. 

He kept working, he’d given up on trying to come up with another solution. He’d tried desperately for the first few weeks after Shiro left, convinced there must have been _some_ other way. But there wasn’t. Mortals weren’t supposed to become immortal, they weren’t supposed to have their lives elongated at all, and Shiro was no exception. 

The laws of nature didn’t bend for Lance’s heart. 

So he stopped. Stopped thinking about him all together, really, or did his best to. Took business all over the place just to get him out of the house. He had a meeting today a little way away. He was dropping off some ingredients, along with a potion he’d been working on to the boss of a company. 

They didn’t do business together all that often, but they’d been in regular trade with one another over the past few years, and things were going smoothly. It was the company of mortals, actually. It wasn’t rare for someone of their world to pose as a mortal and do business on the side, and that was what this man was doing. 

They had to be discreet, and so Lance portalled a little way away where no one would see, everything he needed packed into a briefcase and Lance himself in a suit and tie that would be suited to such a place. 

He walked up the busy street, the sky threatening rain, and finally got to the building, announcing his arrival to reception, and being led up to his office. 

“Ah, Lance,” he said, looking up at him from where he sat in his chair behind his desk. “Come on in.”

“Kolivan,” Lance smiled, walking over and setting his briefcase down. “It’s good to see you again.”

“And you, I trust you’re keeping well?”

Lance smiled and nodded. “And you?” 

“Thank you,” Kolivan nodded. 

Lance opened up the briefcase, taking out each item and handing it over to him, Kolivan inspecting them closely. 

“These will be perfect, thank you,” he said, as he took the next one from Lance, the both of them turning around as his office door opened. 

“I’m sorry, sir, the machine was out of… coffee.” It was Shiro, standing in the doorway with a coffee cup in his hand. 

“No matter, Shiro, I hope it’s worth the wait,” he said, ushering him over and Shiro walked over to him, not taking his eyes off of Lance as he placed the cup down. 

Kolivan looked between them, looking at Shiro with a raised brow as he failed to leave. 

“Did you need something else?” he asked and Shiro shook his head. “Then you may go.” 

Shiro nodded, looking down and turning to leave. 

“Shiro-” Lance said just before he got to the door and Shiro stilled, turning slowly around to look at him. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

“I figured,” Shiro said quietly. “It’s alright, I deserved it, it was my fault.”

Lance looked down, feeling ashamed of himself, but Kolivan brought him out of his thoughts with a huffed breath that was half a laugh half a scoff. 

“Well, I never would have thought that you were the wolf that the great Lance McClain fell in love with,” he said, looking amusedly at Shiro. 

Shiro’s eyes widened and Lance narrowed his eyes at Kolivan.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked. 

“Please, anyone who’s anyone heard about what happened. How you went to get the legendary crystal and then you traded it for a wolf’s life. The wolf that you fell in love with. I wonder what you could have needed that crystal for,” he said, corners of his mouth upturned. 

“I could have needed it for many reasons,” Lance snapped in his defence the same time that Shiro looked at him with a frown on his face, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. 

“You said you didn’t love me,” he murmured. 

“I don’t,” Lance said coldly. 

“Yeah,” Shiro said with a bitter smile. “I didn’t believe you last time, either.”

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again. 

“Can we talk?” Shiro asked softly. “Please?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lance said, looking down. 

“I know it’s over,” Shiro pressed. “But… It feels wrong to end it like this. _Please_.”

Lance sighed heavily, looking at him for a very long moment. “Okay,” he said, finally giving in. “Okay. Can you come by after you get off?”

Shiro nodded. “Yes,” he said quickly. “Yes, thank you,” he said, and Lance didn’t say anything else, averting his eyes, and Shiro took the hint to leave. 

“I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe the rumors,” Kolivan said with a hum. “Lance McClain, in love with a wolf? I thought I’d never see the day. Lance McClain in love at all,” he continued. 

“I’ve been in love before,” Lance said, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Not for five hundred years you haven’t.” 

“And how do you suddenly know everything about me, hm?”

Kolivan scoffed. “Please, you think I only became aware of your existence when we started doing business together? Everyone knows who you are, Lance. Don’t forget that.”

“Right,” Lance said. “Well, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “If you’re satisfied with my product, then I’ll be going.”

Kolivan nodded, opening his desk drawer and handing Lance his payment. Lance took it from him and nodded his head in thanks, swiftly exiting the room. 

***

He didn’t know how to feel after seeing Shiro again, and his stomach felt all churned up. He made his way out of town, before portalling home and heaving a long sigh. He took a hot shower, and went into the kitchen. 

He should probably make them something to eat if Shiro was coming straight from work… He set about cooking something, dishing it up and charming it to keep it warm while he waited for him. He didn’t like using silly little charms like that, but they were useful, if nothing else. 

Shiro arrived soon after that, and from how his hair was dripping and his clothes were sodden, he’d walked at least some of the way, and the rain had come after all. 

“You need to get out of those,” Lance said before he’d even got in the door and Shiro smiled. 

“Hello to you, too,” he said, loosening his tie. 

“Sorry. Hi,” Lance said. “But you _do_ need to get out of those.”

“You aren’t going to take me to dinner first?” Shiro asked in a light tease and Lance rolled his eyes.

“I’ve already cooked you dinner, actually,” he countered and Shiro’s cheeks dusted pink. 

“Romantic,” he said and Lance huffed. 

“You’re an idiot,” Lance said and Shiro bit his lip. 

“Sorry.”

Lance sighed, shaking his head. “You’re just… an idiot,” he said, willing himself with all that he had to just walk away, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t make himself. 

He grabbed onto Shiro’s tie, pretty sure that he wrang water out of it as he did so, pulling Shiro towards him and crashing their lips together. Shiro melted against him immediately, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him back, and Lance didn’t care for how Shiro was making him cold and wet, because he hadn’t felt warmer in months, hadn’t felt more _right_ in _months_ than right now.

They shouldn’t, they shouldn’t because they couldn’t be together, they couldn’t make it work… But dear god, Lance was in love with this man and he couldn’t stop himself, not with the way he was kissing him back, backing him up into the living room towards the couch and pushing him down onto it, door kicked closed behind them, not with to soft little gasps and shudders and the sigh as he parted his lips. 

How could he stop himself? How was there ever any hope?

Shiro kissed him like he was dying for it, like he was trying to devour him whole, and Lance was sure he was kissing him back with just as much need and desperation. They needed it, they needed each other, hadn’t seen each other for so long, and god, the way they’d left things…

They hadn’t seen each other and been happy for what must have been six months now, and Lance had missed him, ached for him, and it seemed that Shiro felt the same way, breaking away from Lance’s lips and kissing down his neck, sucking and nipping at the skin, lips curling as he heard Lance’s little gasps. 

They shouldn’t be doing this, they really, really shouldn’t be doing this, but… Lance wasn’t going to stop them now, what harm was it going to do, really? They’d done enough, they knew how they felt, it didn’t matter, not anymore. At least they could have this. 

Lance wrapped his legs around Shiro’s waist as he lifted him up, walking with him through the house and Lance sucked at the skin under Shiro’s ear, teeth grazing it, barely noticing where they were going until Shiro laid him down on the bed and Lance looked up at him as he pulled his shirt over his head 

“That’s one way to get you out of your clothes,” Lance murmured and Shiro huffed a laugh. 

“Was that the plan?” he asked, crawling over Lance on the bed and capturing his lips. 

Lance kissed him back in lieu of replying, slipping his tongue into his mouth and Shiro gave a soft moan, fumbling to unbutton Lance’s shirt and pull it off of his shoulders, grinding their hips together with a soft groan. 

Lance sighed a moan against Shiro’s lips, rocking his hips up instinctively up against Shiro’s, both already half hard. Shiro parted their lips again and Lance whined as he kissed down his neck, biting in the curve of it and sucking, Lance gasping and tilting his head, a hand coming up to wind into Shiro’s hair, tugging softly. 

“I missed you,” Shiro murmured once he was satisfied with the purple that was blooming, planting soft little kisses up the side of his neck to his ear and Lance shuddered. 

“I missed you too,” he replied quietly, other arm wrapped around Shiro’s shoulders, fingertips tracing over his back. 

He felt Shiro smile against his skin, nipping again and Lance whined. 

“Shiro, darling, please…” he murmured. 

“Please what?” he asked and Lance whined again. 

“I want you,” he breathed and for a moment he thought that Shiro was going to tease him more, but it seemed that he needed this just as badly as Lance did, because then he was nodding and opening the bedside drawer for the lube and a condom, and Lance quickly unbuttoned his pants, sliding them down his legs and dropping them off the edge of the bed along with his underwear, leaving him naked before Shiro. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Shiro murmured as he looked over him and Lance felt himself flush. 

“Please, puppy,” he said, reaching out to take his hand and Shiro smiled softly at him, biting his lip and stroking his thumb over Lance’s hand.

He took a moment to take the rest of his own clothes off, before settling back between Lance’s legs, spreading them and hooking one over each of his hips, smoothing his hands over Lance’s abdomen, and raking his eyes over his body. 

Lance flushed under his stare, his instincts telling him to shy away from it or tell Shiro to stop, but he didn’t, he just let him. Shiro took a few minutes just trailing both his fingertips and his eyes over Lance’s body, something akin to adoration in his eyes, before finally snapping out of it and going for the lube, uncapping it and slicking his fingers. 

Lance bit his lip as Shiro rubbed them at his entrance, before slowly sinking one into him. Lance sighed softly and Shiro brought his other hand to wrap around Lance’s cock, slowly coaxing him to full hardness as he stretched him. 

He soon added a second finger, spreading them inside of Lance, crooking them teasingly into his prostate every few thrusts, Lance whimpering with each touch, cock jumping in Shiro’s hand. He added a third when he was ready, quickly pumping them into him, clearly as desperate to replace them with his cock as Lance was. 

“Shiro-” Lance moaned softly. “Please…”

Shiro bit his lip, brows furrowed in concentration and he pumped them into him for a few more moments, before pulling them out and hesitating. 

“Darling, please, I want you,” he murmured and Shiro wet his lip, bringing his hand to his cock and running over it a few times, before spreading a little lube onto it and leaning over Lance, ghosting their lips together. 

“You’re incredible,” he murmured before gently kissing him, lining up at his entrance and slowly pushing into him, Lance hooking his ankles over one another to keep Shiro against him. 

They moaned softly against each other’s lips, holding onto each other tightly, and Lance slipped their hands together and Shiro laced their fingers, and somehow this was already more intimate than anything they’d done before.

They didn’t part their lips until Shiro had bottomed out, foreheads resting together and panting softly, breath warm washing over each other’s lips. 

“I missed you,” Shiro murmured again, not making to pull out yet, just staying nestled inside of him. 

Lance pressed their lips together and then again, and then again and again. “I missed you too,” he murmured. “More than you can know.” 

Shiro huffed a small breath against him, kissing him again as he finally started to draw his cock out of him, head catching on Lance’s rim, before he pushed it back in, slipping right back in to the hilt in one swift thrust. 

They groaned together, and Shiro started with a steady pace, Lance pressing his heels into the small of Shiro’s back, trying to pull him in deeper, free hand wrapped around his shoulders, fingertips pressing into his back as Shiro rocked into him again and again. 

Their foreheads rested together again, eyes closed and lips parted, soft sounds escaping them and Lance realised somewhere along the way that this wasn’t just sex, this wasn’t just a lapse, a desperate need; Shiro was actually _making love to him_.

The thought only made him whimper, rocking his hips slightly and his cock brushed against Shiro’s abdomen, and Shiro shifted his angle a little to catch Lance’s cock between their bodies, the friction making him whimper and whine, the changed angle meaning that Shiro’s cock was now brushing against his prostate on almost every thrust. 

His thrusts were getting faster and deeper with almost each one, because it was desperate, they were _desperate_ for each other, they _needed_ each other, and they _loved_ each other, and maybe they hadn’t explicitly said those words yet, but they knew, they both knew. Lance could feel it in the air, could feel it through each movement of their bodies, each brush of Shiro’s lips over his own, each swallowed moan and gasp. 

Lance wound his hand into Shiro’s hair, stroking it gently as Shiro rocked into him, holding tightly onto each others hands where they were locked, moaning softly against each other, Lance leaning up to capture his lips again, gently sucking on his bottom lip. 

Shiro groaned, snapping his hips and grinding down against Lance’s cock, swallowing Lance’s whine as he arched up against him and Shiro snapped his hips again with another groan. He could tell that Shiro was getting close from the way he was thrusting his cock into him, breath coming in ragged pants and he was holding onto Lance’s hand so tightly that it was almost painful, but… sort of in a good way. Lance liked being held so tightly like that, like he didn’t want to risk letting go, like he couldn’t bear to let go. 

Lance felt something at the base of Shiro’s cock hitting against him with each thrust at around the same time he felt Shiro’s wolf ears when he stroked through his hair. 

“Shiro, is that-?” He murmured and Shiro groaned, tapering off into a small whine.

“Can I?” he asked breathlessly. “Can I please?” he asked. 

“Can you what, puppy?” Lance asked, knowing full well but wanting to hear Shiro say it. 

“Can I knot you?” he asked and Lance moaned, nodding. 

“Please, please, baby, I want you to, want you to knot me,” he moaned and Shiro groaned, fucking him harder, knot pressing against his hole with each thrust before finally pushing in, both of them moaning loudly against one another, Lance feeling it swell inside of him.

Shiro rocked his hips in short but strong succession, grinding against him, knot moving inside of him, tugging on his rim as Shiro rocked his hips and Lance whimpered. 

“Please, baby, please, I want it,” Lance murmured, and Shiro groaned, nudging Lance’s head to the side to kiss down his neck, before latching onto the skin in the curve of it and biting down. 

“You’re mine,” he murmured, snapping his hips as much as he could and Lance groaned, tilting his head to the side for him and tugging on his hair. 

“Yes, yes, yes, I’m yours, puppy, I’m all yours,” Lance agreed as Shiro nipped and sucked at the skin, determinedly making a dark mark there as he rocked his hips desperately, not able to get much of a thrust now that his knot was inside of him, but grinding into him enough, hips stuttering as he came and Lance could feel him filling him up. 

He came more than he would have in his human form, but that only turned Lance on more, bringing his other hand reluctantly away from Shiro’s hair to reach between them to wrap around his own cock, only taking a few tugs before he spilt over his abdomen with a low moan, rocking against Shiro. 

Shiro rocked his hips through his own orgasm, before slumping on top of Lance, nestling his head in the crook of his neck where he’d bitten, and loosening their fingers where they were interlocked. 

“I love you,” Shiro murmured and Lance felt his heart flutter inside of his chest. 

He sighed softly, bringing his hand back to Shiro’s hair and lacing gently through it. “I love you too, puppy,” he murmured back, and Shiro held onto him tighter, turning his face more into Lance’s neck. 

Now that they were coming down from it, everything was sinking in, more. They still couldn’t be together, they both knew that. But right now they were quite literally tied together, and Shiro wouldn’t be able to part himself from Lance even if he tried. They were tied together for now, and that was enough. They belonged to each other, just for now, but that was enough. 

They laid there holding each other for a very long time, and Lance could feel as Shiro’s knot went down, until finally, he knew he’d be able to slip it out of him, but he didn’t. He knew that Shiro knew it too, but as long as they just laid here and didn’t move, as long as they were still tied together, nothing else mattered, and they didn’t need to have all the conversations that they needed to have. They could just be. 

Eventually, though, Shiro sighed and leant up a little, looking down at Lance with a soft expression. 

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, and Lance smiled. 

“You like telling me,” he said, leaning up to press their lips together gently. 

Shiro melted against him, and they kissed for a long few moments, before parting again, and Shiro slipped his cock out of him. He got up, scooping Lance up into his arms and carrying him to the bathroom. 

“Was that um, was that okay?” Shiro asked softly as he set Lance down and switched the shower on, looking at Lance almost bashfully with a bitten lip.

“I liked it,” Lance admitted. “A lot.”

“Okay,” Shiro said with a shy smile. “I’m sorry about that,” he said, gently running his thumb over the worst of the bruises that he’d made when he came.

Lance looked at it in the mirror and then looked at Shiro. “It’s okay, I liked that too. It’s um, it’s a wolf thing. Like a, uh ‘claiming’ thing. Like you were claiming me as your mate.” 

Shiro looked down, forehead creasing into a frown. “Yeah,” he murmured. 

Lance sighed and cupped his face, stroking his cheeks gently with his thumbs. There was nothing he could say to make it better. He longed to tell Shiro that it would be okay, but what kind of okay would that be? Instead, he took his hand and stepped into the shower with him, letting out a sigh as the hot water ran over them, and he leant against Shiro’s body. Shiro kissed the crown of his head, wrapping his arms around Lance with a soft sigh. 

They stood like that for a few minutes under the water, before Shiro reached for the soap and gently began lathering it onto them, Lance sighing and letting his eyes fall closed as Shiro massaged it onto his skin, and then let him clean him out completely. 

Once they were all clean they just stayed standing there, both aware that they were stalling the inevitable, so Lance eventually turned off the water and got out, handing Shiro a towel, and beginning to dry himself off. 

“We should probably get in my bed, this time, we might need to change the sheets in yours,” he said as Shiro scooped him up again. 

“You still call it my bed?” Shiro asked with a soft smile, turning into Lance’s bedroom instead.

“Shiro, my darling, for the rest of my life it will be your bed,” Lance murmured, resting his head in the crook of Shiro’s neck, and Shiro let out a shaky breath. 

Shiro didn’t say anything to that, laying Lance down on his bed and getting in next to him, turning onto his side to face him and wrapping an arm around Lance’s waist. 

“Can I ask you something?” Shiro asked softly and Lance nodded. “What did Kolivan mean when he asked what you could have needed the crystal for…? He sounded like he already knew… What did you need it for?”

Lance sighed and looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me,” Shiro said. “It’s my fault you lost it. And it clearly mattered to you.”

“Telling you isn’t going to help anything, it’s just going to make you feel worse. It’s not your fault, okay? And I don’t blame you, I blame Lotor. This is his revenge.”

“His revenge…?”

“Lotor… was in love with my wife before we were married,” Lance explained softly. “But Allura chose me instead of him, and she loved me and we were happy, and he hated that, he always felt like I stole her from him, even though she was never his in the first place. So this is his revenge.”

Shiro’s brows furrowed as he thought about that. “Lance…” he said softly after a few minutes. “Was… Could the crystal have… made me live longer?” he asked quietly. 

Lance looked away from him and didn’t say anything. 

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“I know,” Lance said, voice thick. “I don’t want to hear you say that you’re sorry anymore. It’s done.”

“There’s… nothing else? There’s no other way?”

“No,” Lance said quickly. “There’s not.” He’d tried, for weeks and weeks he’d tried, he’d researched everything he could think of. “Mortals aren’t supposed to have their lives elongated, and people like me aren’t supposed to fall in love with them.”

“But you did,” Shiro said, worrying his lip between his teeth. 

“But I did,” Lance agreed, meeting his eyes, finding them just as glossed with tears as his own. “The crystal might not have worked, anyway.”

“But it might have,” Shiro said quietly and Lance breathed out a shaky sigh. 

“There’s nothing we can do, puppy. We’re not supposed to be together and you know that.”

Shiro didn’t say anything, forehead creased into a hard frown and eyes filled with tears, threatening to spill over. 

“I love you,” he said at last, a desperation in his voice that felt like if he said it enough, then things would right themselves. 

“I know, darling,” Lance murmured. “I know.”  
“What if I want to be with you anyway?” Shiro asked, a tear slipping down his cheek. “What if I don’t care that you won’t age with me, or that we won’t… get to be together for as long as we should be? What if I don’t care?”

Lance gave him a watery smile, cupping his face. “You deserve someone to grow old with you.”

“And you deserve someone to live forever with you, but here we are, loving each other anyway,” Shiro protested, another tear running down his cheek, Lance catching it on the pad of his thumb and wiping it away. 

Lance let out a breath, willing himself not to cry too. “If… what about when you’re seventy? Eighty? And I’m still… like this. What will you tell your family? Everyone we know? The life we’d have to live… You’d want that?”

“With you?” Shiro asked, huffing out a small watery laugh. “I’d want any life I could get.”

Lance was gone, with that, tears slipping down his cheeks quickly, and Shiro pulled him against his chest, Lance crumpling against him. 

“It’s not fair,” Lance cried. “It’s not _fair, it’s not fair_.” 

“I know, sweetheart,” Shiro murmured, holding him tightly. 

“I _love you_ ,” Lance said, pressing himself against Shiro and trying to get the tears to stop coming, but they wouldn’t. “I love you so much, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, not yours- _mine_. It’s not _fair_.”

Shiro held him, gently rubbing his back and somehow that only made Lance cry harder. He’d managed to hold himself together mostly, every time he’d thought about this, about what he wanted and what he couldn’t have, but… being faced with it like this, he just couldn’t anymore. 

“I don’t want to wake up next to you for the next sixty years, I want to wake up next to you for the next six hundred, next six thousand- six hundred thousand. It’s not fair.”

Shiro clung to him tightly, breathing coming more shakily again as more tears slipped down his own cheeks. 

“And I just… It took me centuries to get over Allura’s death… She was like me but it didn’t matter because we’d barely had a hundred years together anyway. And it _hurt_ so much, that’s why I’m the way I am now, because of that, and… I can’t… I can’t go through that again, but I know that if I don’t… then I’m always going to regret, for the rest of eternity I’m going to regret not spending every moment that I could with you, so I _have_ to.”

“Lance…” Shiro murmured. “I’m so sorry. I can’t… imagine how awful that must have been for you. I’m sorry I called you selfish, it’s… it’s not, I get it.” 

Lance nodded against him, pulling back to look at him. “It doesn’t matter,” Lance said softly. “Because if I send you away now then I might be protecting myself a little bit, but I’m always going to have to live with the regret. I’d rather ache for a few centuries and know that I did everything i could, and I spent every minute with you and I told you that I loved you and that you were beautiful and that I kissed you in the mornings and that I held you at night, and that we loved so much, and that we were happy.”

Shiro sniffed, a few more tears slipping down his cheeks. “So you’ll have me?” he asked softly with a watery smile. 

Lance gently cupped the back of his head and brushed their lips together, salty and wet from their tears. “I love you,” he murmured. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Shiro replied, reciprocating the gentle press of their lips and holding Lance close.

They laid like that until both of their tears had subsided, just holding each other and gently kissing before Lance settled against Shiro, forehead pressed in the crook of his neck. 

“What are we going to do?” Shiro asked softly. 

“Well…” Lance said, biting his lip. “We could move somewhere, I guess. Get a house together.”

“What about this place?” 

“I’ll keep this house,” he said, ‘for after you’re gone’ hanging heavily in the air. “And then… I don’t know. Whatever you want. We can try and live a normal life together. I suppose you’re going to have to tell your family, because… well, in a few decades it’s going to become very apparent.”

“Yeah,” Shiro said, giving a small nod. “There’s… nothing you could do to… make yourself appear to them that you’re getting older?”

“I don’t know,” Lance said, frowning. “I could potentially figure something out.”

“Well, we have time.”

“Not enough,” Lance muttered under his breath.

“No, but it’s all we’ve got,” Shiro replied softly. 

“Yeah,” Lance agreed with a sigh. “And I’m grateful that we’ve got even that much.”

Neither of them said anything for a little while after that, Shiro gently dragging his fingertips up and down Lance’s skin. 

“Afterwards…” he started, breaking the silence. “I don’t want you to do what you did before.”

“What d’you mean?” Lance asked softly, looking up at him. 

“I mean, take the time that you need to grieve, but don’t… cut yourself off from everyone. You’ll find someone one day that can be with you for the rest of your life, and you’ll be happy. Just like you miss Allura now, but you’re happy. You’ll miss me, but you’ll be happy again, but not if you don’t try, not if you just stay here by yourself and work all the time.”

“I don’t want to be happy with someone else,” Lance said quietly, frowning. 

“I’m sure you thought that when you lost your wife, too,” he said, raising an eyebrow and Lance looked away. “Promise me.”

“I don’t want to talk about losing you anymore, okay? We have time, we have the rest of your life, and it’s not… as much as I want, but it’s all we’ve got, and it’s only just started. I don’t want to talk about what’s going to happen after that until that’s a very real and very soon possibility.”

“Lance…” Shiro said. “I could go out tomorrow and get hit by a bus,” he said and Lance flinched. “I _could_. I just want you to keep that in mind, okay? Whenever it happens, that’s what I want, I want for you to find happiness again.”

“Okay,” Lance said with a huff. “Okay.”

“Thank you.”

“Now, don’t say anything else, _please_?”

“I won’t,” Shiro promised, kissing his head. 

“Okay,” Lance said, nodding and blowing out a breath. 

“We’re gonna be okay?” Shiro asked and Lance looked at him for a long moment, before smiling gently and nodding. 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “We’re gonna be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when things are happy but still fuckin suck u kno


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What would you say if I asked you to marry me?”

And things were okay. Things weren’t easy, because Lance was constantly aware of the passing of time, but in a way that only made him more determined to cherish each moment they had together. 

It was good, in a way, because as the months passed they were happy, they were really really _happy_. Times that maybe Lance would have lost his temper, he didn’t, because he didn’t want to waste even a single day of this, not a single minute. 

They got a house together a little way out, and were just starting to settle in. It wasn’t big, but it was perfect. It was out of town, surrounded by greenery, which was perfect for Shiro. Lance still kept his house in the city for work, knowing that Lotor wasn’t the only person that had it in for him, and the more of his private life he could keep private, the better. 

Though it seemed word had spread quickly in their world, and everyone knew everything, because of course there was nothing more interesting that Lance McClain falling in love with a wolf. Lance didn’t understand it himself, but he supposed, that he was one of the most well known people in their community, and people always liked to gossip. Even when they’d been around for centuries it seemed, _especially_ when they’d been around for centuries. 

But he and Shiro were good. Things were… better than they’d been for Lance than they’d been in a very long time. There was a cat that kept showing up, and despite the fact that Shiro’s initial instinct had been to chase it, they’d ended up bonding, and Shiro had somehow convinced him to let them keep it unless it already had a home, which it didn’t seem to. Lance would use the term somehow very loosely, because Shiro had Lance wrapped right around his finger, and knew exactly how to get what he wanted, and Lance was just really… really in love. 

The end of the year passed them by, and they had their first Christmas together while their new house was still mostly in boxes, but it was perfect. Shiro was nearing his twenty third birthday now, and Lance had yet to meet his family, and they still didn’t have a plan as to whether they were going to tell them or not, or what they would even say if they did, so they kept putting it off and focusing on other things, like Shiro’s first snow, and the way he tore around excitedly, rolling over in the frosted grass again and again and again like it was the best day of his life. 

Time was quickly running away from them, just like Lance had feared, though every day was wonderful. They’d finally made plans to meet with Shiro’s family, who had, of course, questioned where Shiro had moved to so suddenly, and who it was with. They hadn’t moved far enough that Shiro couldn’t get to work easily, though Lance had tried to persuade him to quit; it wasn’t as though they needed the money, Shiro had said that he wanted to keep going for at least a few more years, and Lance had respected that. It was Shiro’s life after all, and he’d already given Lance the gift of spending it with him, he couldn’t ask for any more than he was given. 

So they made a date and met up with his family. Lance was more nervous than he’d been in a long time; he really wanted them to like him. If they liked him, it might make things easier when they eventually told them about… the situation. 

And Shiro’s family were lovely. His mother made them a lovely lunch and they were sweet and kind and respectful. They asked them all about how they met and what Lance did for a living and they didn’t have to stray too far from the truth. A perfectly crafted white lie that would all make sense when they eventually told them, but for now it was good enough. 

Shiro had gone into the kitchen to help his mother clear the table, leaving Lance with his father and sister. 

“I’m glad Takashi’s finally met someone,” his father said, taking a long sip of his drink. “I was worried he’d never settle down.”

Lance laughed softly. “He certainly is a free spirit,” he agreed. “But that’s one of the things I love about him.”

“You love him?” Yukie asked, looking intently at him. 

“I do. Very much so,” Lance confirmed, nodding and she smiled softly at him. 

“Good. Hurt him and I’ll end you.”

Lance laughed lightly. “I don’t doubt it,” he said, knowing that the both of them were going to get hurt no matter what. “I’d never want to hurt him.”

“You’re a good man, Lance,” his father said, humming in approval. “My boy’s lucky to have you.”

Lance shook his head, looking down. “I’m definitely the lucky one,” he said softly, glancing up as Shiro and his mother came back in. 

“What?” Shiro said, looking at Lance’s expression as his brows furrowed. 

“Nothing,” Lance smiled, shaking his head. 

“Whaaaaaat?” Shiro pouted, coming over to him. 

“Nothing., Lance insisted, looking at him affectionately. “I just really love you.”

Shiro’s cheeks flushed and he huffed in embarrassment. “I really love you, too.”

“Good, you’d better,” Lance said as a smile spread across his face. 

“Have you guys been talking about me?” Shiro asked, pouting and his sister laughed. 

“Ew, why would we wanna talk about you?” she giggled and Shiro pouted harder as Lance laughed along with them. Shiro sat back down next to Lance and Lance leant over to kiss his cheek. 

“You’re the only one I’d ever want to talk about,” he murmured softly. 

Shiro flushed again, turning his head to peck his lips. “Good, I’d better be.”

***

They’d gotten home a little while ago now, and Shiro had been full of restless energy, so the two of them had headed out to the woods to let Shiro blow off some steam. He’d run around for a little bit, Lance sitting at the edge of the lake, watching him, before coming to a stop next to him, nudging his cheek with his nose and sitting with him for a few minutes before changing back into his human form.

“Hey,” Lance said with a smile and Shiro leaned in to press their lips together. “You done running?” he asked and Shiro hummed. 

“Yeah, I missed you,” Shiro said and Lance smiled. 

“Cute,” he remarked and Shiro rolled his eyes playfully, shaking his head.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Shiro said, tucking Lance’s hair behind his ear.

“About today?” Lance asked, tilting his head.

“No,” Shiro said, shaking his head. “Well… I don’t know, it feels like something I couldn’t really ask before today, but…”

“What is it?” Lance asked softly. 

“What would you say if I asked you to marry me?”

“What?”

“I know it’s a short time for you, but it’s my whole life, and I want to spend it with you, I want to be as important, you know? Like you can call me your husband, and I can call you mine. We’re already going to be together for the rest of my life, and I know that it’s not as long as you thought when you married Allura, but I just thought-”

“My love,” Lance said, cutting him off. “You don’t need to convince me, I would say yes,” he said, biting his lip as he smiled at him. 

“You would?” Shiro asked, lips parting as he looked at Lance with an expression that said he was surprised.

“Of course I would. I want to be able to call you my husband, too.”

“Then… will you marry me?” Shiro asked with a shy smile and Lance’s smile only widened. 

“Of course I will,” Lance said, looping his arms around Shiro’s neck and kissing him. “I love you,” he said against his lips as Shiro wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist, pulling him into his lap. 

“I love _you_ ,” Shiro murmured back, holding Lance close against him. 

“No, I _really_ love you,” Lance said, cupping his face and looking at him. 

“Lance, I’m the one that just asked you to marry me,” Shiro said with a smile. “I _know,_ okay? I know.”

Lance nodded, kissing him softly. “I know you do, sweetheart, I just… needed to make sure.”

“I wish things were different,” Shiro murmured as he rested their foreheads together and Lance let out a soft breath. “I mean for you, not me.”

“I know,” Lance said. “But they’re not different. And I’m trying really hard to focus on the fact that we’re together and we love each other and we’re happy. Because I could’ve lost you. Lotor could’ve killed you, but he didn’t and you’re okay, and you’re here, and you’re mine.”

Shiro bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah.”

“You have to forgive yourself, my love,” Lance said softly, pulling back to look at him.

“How can I?” Shiro asked, looking down. “It’s all my fault and things could have been so different.”

“Darling,” Lance said, stroking his thumb over his cheek. “It was a myth, you know that. We’re not supposed to be together and no law of nature is supposed to change that. But we are together and that’s what matters. It’s not your fault, and I have never blamed you, despite what I said. I have only ever blamed Lotor.”

Shiro looked up at him with glossy eyes. “If I hadn’t be so stupid-”

“You weren’t stupid, not for a moment. You were acting out of love.”

Shiro sighed softly and nodded. 

“It’ll be okay, my love, I promise,” Lance said, kissing his head.

***

Time moved on and things went by and Lance and Shiro were happy. They hadn’t announced the engagement yet, just content to keep it to themselves for a while. There was something lingering in the back of Lance’s mind, however, but Lance didn’t quite know how to go about it. 

“Would you want to get married in the West?” he asked one afternoon and Shiro looked up from where he was reading his book. 

“Hm? Oh… Yeah, that sounds nice,” he said with a smile. “I liked it there.”

Lance nodded. “I think I’m going to make a trip there for a few days to ask Romelle about using her grounds.”

“Can I come?” Shiro asked, perking up a little. 

“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” he smiled. 

So they packed their things and Lance sent Romelle a message, informing her of their arrival, and then he made a portal for them and took them there. 

Shiro’s tail was wagging non stop as they walked up to the castle, just as it had been the first time as he looked around excitedly. Where they lived now was much better for him; with forests and gardens, but there was just… something in the air here. 

They went through the same process as before, Shiro being looked down upon by the guards, but eventually being taken to a wing of the castle that held guest chambers, along with their bags. 

Lance was taken to Romelle, walking over to where she stood by the window. 

“This is a nice surprise, Lance,” She said. “I wasn’t expecting you for another two hundred years or so.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he apologised but she waved him off. 

“You’re an old friend, Lance, you don’t need to apologise for dropping in. Why are you here? If I might ask.”

Lance glanced out the window to where she was looking, butterflies fluttering around, the scent of flowers filling the air, and trees swaying in the breeze. 

“Would you allow Shiro and I to be wed here?” he asked, and she looked at him. 

“Are congratulations in order?” she asked with eyebrows raised and he nodded. 

“Yes,” he said with a soft smile. “We decided that we’d like to get married, and… well, here holds sentiment for us.”

She hummed and nodded. “Yes, I’d be delighted to host a wedding. But that’s not why you’re here.”

“What?” Lance asked, blinking. “Yes it is.”

“You may have _told_ yourself that’s why you’re here, but it isn’t. So why are you really here, old friend?”

Lance looked at her for a long moment and then looked away, biting his lip. “I don’t know. A _hope_ I suppose, that you might have _some_ sort of advice for me. Some stone I haven’t unturned, some book I haven’t read yet.”

She nodded in understanding. “You wish to extend the canine’s life.”

“I love him,” Lance said, blowing out a small shaky breath. “I love him so much, and… every day that goes by is torturous knowing that we’re so happy now, but we won’t be very soon. And it is very soon. He gets it, but he doesn’t _get_ it. It’s his whole life, he can’t comprehend it. I’m eight hundred years old and I’m not even going to have him for another hundred.”

She sighed softly. “I did warn you last time you were here.”

“I know you did. But I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with him.”

“I heard about your struggles with Lotor. How you traded the sacred crystal for the canine’s life.”

“I still nearly lost him anyway,” Lance said quietly. “Lotor stabbed him.”

“Lotor is not a good man,” Romelle said. “Not like you.”

“I’m not good,” Lance said, looking down. 

Romelle laughed lightly. “Maybe not, no. But whatever you are, Lotor is worse than you, my friend.”

Lance gave her a small smile. 

“So tell me why you are here. You think I know something that you do not about extending the lives of mortals?”

“I don’t know, I was hoping,” Lance said softly. 

“I’m afraid without that crystal, Lance, there’s not a lot we can do,” she said sympathetically. 

“So it would have worked,” Lance said, blowing out a breath. 

“It’s probable. Have you tried to get it back?”

Lance scoffed. “Lotor will have destroyed it all by now for his own use.”

“Do you think?”

“Don’t you?”

“Well, I would say it’s worth looking into.”

“You… think I should try and steal it back?” Lance asked and Romelle made a noncommittal noise. 

“I think you could try to ask for it back,” she said and Lance huffed a laugh. 

“Ask for it back? Romelle, he _hates_ me. He’d sooner die.”

“Then maybe you should kill him.” 

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again. “Kill him?”

Romelle shrugged. “You’ve killed people before for less, Lance, and this would be for love.”

Lance frowned, swallowing. “I- I know, but-”

“But what? You could steal it from him, you could ask for it back, you could fight him for it, and if none of these work then you’re going to lose the canine anyway.”

Lance sighed softly. “I… I suppose. You think I should do that?”

“I’m merely stating your options, Lance, not my opinion.”

“Will it work? The crystal? It’ll make him live as long as me?”

She nodded. “It will create the same sense of time that your body abides by. It will no longer decay and therefore it will not perish unless the circumstances are right.”

Lance frowned and nodded. “I will keep that in mind, then.”

“Of course.”

“May we stay here for a few days?” he asked. “Shiro really likes it here, it’s enriching for his senses, or something.”

“As long as you wish.”

“Thank you,” Lance said gratefully. 

“You may come to me with any more of your concerns. I’ll have someone show you to your quarters.”

Lance nodded, letting himself be escorted out and to the room that he and Shiro would be staying in. It was similar to the ones they had last time, though bigger and more lavish. Coming in, it was strangely reminiscent of the first time, as Shiro was seated at the window, looking out; ears flicking and nose twitching, tail swaying in a slow contented wag behind him. 

“Hi, puppy,” he said softly as he came in and Shiro’s ears flicked as he turned to look at him with a smile. 

“Hi,” he said, Lance coming over to the window seat, sitting next to him and Shiro shifted to accommodate him, letting Lance lean back against his chest. “How did it go?”

“She said we can have the wedding here,” he said and Shiro smiled, burying his face in Lance’s hair. 

“That’s great!” he said excitedly and Lance smiled softly, turning his head a little to press his forehead into the crook of Shiro’s neck and inhaling deeply. “Are you okay?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah. I’m just tired.”

If Shiro didn’t believe him he didn’t let on, wrapping his arms snugly around Lance and holding him in his arms, pressing a kiss to his temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Anything.”
> 
> “Anything?” Lotor asked, lips curling wider. “Now there’s a thought.”
> 
> Lance swallowed thickly, clenching his jaw as Lotor put a hand on his shoulder, clenching his jaw to stop himself from flinching. 
> 
> “Get on your knees and beg me,” he instructed, squeezing Lance’s shoulder hard in the moments that Lance did nothing, and Lance obediently got onto his knees on the ground in front of him, looking up for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: minor character death

Shiro was up with the sun, leaving Lance in bed with a soft kiss to his lips as Lance gave a sleepy whine of protest. He stayed there for a little while longer, Shiro long gone; no doubt outside rushing about full wolf. 

Well, with Shiro occupied it didn’t make any sense to wait any longer. It was most likely that Lotor had already destroyed and used all of the crystal and that there was none left, but on the off chance he had some of it left, Lance had to at least try. It wasn’t fair, he didn’t just get to take Shiro from him because he was bitter that Allura hadn’t loved him. 

He took a few minutes to work himself up to it, not knowing at all what he’d say, because he knew he wouldn’t exactly be welcome there, but eventually just got up and summoned the portal, stepping through it, not even bothering with the front door and stepping right into Lotor’s living room. 

Of course if Lotor wasn’t home then this would be a lot easier. He took a few moments looking around, but it seemed that fate wasn’t on his side as Lotor stepped into the room, looking at him with surprise that soon steeled. 

“This should be good,” he said, lips curling into a smile. 

“I need that crystal back,” Lance said and Lotor barked a laugh. 

“Oh, of course, let me just go and get it for you, dear,” he said cruelly with a smile. “Why are you really here?”

“I need it back,” Lance said again. There were no games or false agendas. Lance just wanted it back, even just a piece of it, and then he’d be gone. 

“I don’t have it anymore,” Lotor said with a shrug. 

“I just need a _little_ bit,” Lance pressed. 

Lotor looked at him for a long moment, huffing out a breath and taking a few steps closer. “And what are you willing to do to get it?” he murmured when they were nose to nose and Lance could feel the huff of his warm breath against his lips. 

“Anything.”

“Anything?” Lotor asked, lips curling wider. “Now there’s a thought.”

Lance swallowed thickly, clenching his jaw as Lotor put a hand on his shoulder, clenching his jaw to stop himself from flinching. 

“Get on your knees and beg me for it,” he instructed, squeezing Lance’s shoulder hard in the moments that Lance did nothing, and Lance obediently got onto his knees on the ground in front of him, looking up for him. 

“Please, Lotor,” he breathed. “Please.”

Lotor looked at him for a long moment. “I can’t hear you, Lancey,” he teased and Lance took in a sharp breath. 

“ _Please_ ,” he said more forcefully. “I’ll do anything, I just need a little bit of it, _please_. We don’t need to be at war with each other, it’s been five hundred years, can’t we just move on?”

Lotor sneered at him. “Move on? You don’t know what it was _like_ , Lance!” he spat. “Though I suppose you got what you deserved, didn’t you? You _lost her_. She died because of _you_.”

Lance swallowed thickly, clenching his jaw hard as so not to retaliate. “Please…” he muttered again. “Please.”

“You stupid bitch,” Lotor spat, lashing out at him and kicking his abdomen harshly, Lance falling backwards from the surprise of the impact. “If she hadn’t married you she’d still be alive!” he roared, kicking out at him again and again. 

Lance looked up at him, crying out softly with each hard kick but not doing anything to fight back. 

“She’s dead because of _you_ ,” he said, punctuating each word with a hard kick, curling in on himself a little, all the wind being knocked from his chest. “And now your _mutt_ is going to die, too. Because of you.” 

Lance breathed a soft growl, fingertips sparking before he could even think about it as he shot magic in Lotor’s direction. He stumbled backwards, fingers coming up to his throat, grasping desperately as the air was choked from him. 

Lance panted, aching everywhere, but managing to haul himself up from the floor, walking over to Lotor. 

“Where is it?” he asked and Lotor looked at him, eyes wide as he grabbed at his throat. 

“I don’t- I don’t- _have_ \- it-” he choked out. 

Lance reached out, slapping him hard around the face. “I would’ve let you go, you know.” 

Lotor spat on the ground, looking at him as he tried to break free from the hold that Lance’s magic had on him. 

“You caught me where I couldn’t do this before, but I should’ve done this a _long_ time ago,” he said, squeezing tighter. 

Lotor looked at him with frightened eyes the more he tried to breathe and couldn’t, seemingly finally realising that Lance wasn’t playing around. 

“Get on your knees and beg,” he murmured, slapping Lotor hard again when he didn’t move, increasing the squeeze around his throat. 

Lotor fell to his knees with a thud, looking up at him, eyes bulging as he opened his mouth, trying to speak. 

Lance loosened his grip only enough to let him choke some words out. “Please,” he rasped. “Please, Lance, you don’t have to do this.”

“No, I don’t,” Lance agreed. “I _want_ to. I want to watch you die,” he said, squeezing tighter again. “I want to _feel_ you die.” He said, squeezing even tighter, Lotor choking hard as he desperately tried to breath. 

Lance moved his foot, not in a kick, just in a gentle tap, pushing Lotor over onto the floor and looking down at him from where he stood as he squeezed the life of him. 

“Allura never loved you,” he said, crouching down next to him and using his free hand to brush Lotor’s hair behind his ear. “She never loved you and she never would have.”

Lotor made a choked noise in response, and Lance doubled down, no longer interested in drawing this out. He was done with him. It only took a few moments before the life drained from Lotor’s eyes and he stopped struggling. Lance kept at it for a few more moments for good measure, and then released him, rolling him onto his back with his foot. 

“I should’ve done that a _long_ time ago,” he spat, before moving through his house, looking for where Lotor may have kept the crystal, if there was any left at all. 

He sifted through his rooms, his storage and his decor, losing all hope that Lotor had been lying. Who had he been kidding, anyway? A lot of time had passed since Lotor had stolen the crystal, it was unlikely that he would have any left by now. 

Eventually, Lance found himself in one of Lotor’s work rooms, surrounded by papers and different magical items, sifting through them. 

His heart dropped as he forced open a locked door, blasting off the lock and finding the crystal in its entirety stowed away. 

“Why…?” Lance mumbled to himself, tentatively reaching out to touch it. “Why would you have this?” 

It didn’t make sense. The crystal didn’t crumble or disappear under his touch. It seemed real enough, but why would Lotor still have this? After all of these months, why hadn’t he used it already?

He sifted through the papers that were spread over his desk, glossing over them, lips parting as he realised what was on them. The crystal wasn’t just used for stopping the decay of a mortal’s body, Lance knew that, but he didn’t know that it could be used for _this_.

“He was trying to bring her back,” he muttered aloud, shock filling his voice. “But you can’t just- you can’t bring someone _back_ , that’s not how it works.”

He looked around, gathering up the plans and the crystal and summoning a portal back to the palace. 

He stumbled through it, having tried to estimate his arrival in Romelle’s chamber so that she could keep the crystal safe for him. 

“Lance!” she exclaimed as he fell through it, the trip putting strain on the injuries that Lotor had given him. 

She rushed over to him, holding him up and taking the crystal and the papers from him, setting them down on the side. 

“What happened, are you alright? Did he attack you?” she asked in concern, quickly pulling Lance’s shirt up over his head, revealing his torso which was mottled with bruises that were already a deep purple colour.

“Kind of,” Lance said with a shrug. “It’s over now, though.” 

“Over as in…?”

“As in it’s _over_ ,” he said with finality and she nodded. “He was trying to bring Allura back from the dead.”

“He what?” Romelle asked, eyes widening as she gathered up the papers, quickly looking through them. 

“I know. He… that wouldn’t have worked, right?”

Romelle bit her lip and shook her head. “People are not supposed to be brought back from the dead, there would have been a terrible price. It wouldn’t have brought her back as she was.”

Lance blew out a shaky breath. “But… it’s gonna work for Shiro, isn’t it?”

Romelle nodded. “Simply stopping the decay of a body should be fine. Reviving one is a whole other matter. Not just that- from five hundred years ago. I loathe to think how that would have played out. He’s… he’s not going to be looking for this back, is he?”

Lance shook his head, averting his eyes. “I took care of it. Of him.”

“You,” she said, looking at his torso in concern. “Need to rest up in bed.”

“I- no, can’t you just heal me? I can’t show Shiro, he’ll worry.”

“You aren’t planning on telling him?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I-” Lance faltered. “I don’t know.”

“I can heal you, but I still want you to rest, alright? You’ll heal best if you let it happen naturally, I can just kick start the process. Or I can heal you fully right now.”

Lance heaved a long sigh. “Just… start it,” he said. He’d need to tell Shiro. He was supposed to be marrying him, he couldn’t start that off with a lie. 

Romelle nodded, placing her hands over his abdomen and slowly warming his skin with her magic until it tingled, slowly moving her hands over his body. 

“Go to bed now, alright? I’ll have someone send your canine up.”

Lance nodded, trudging to the door, turning back to look at her. “We can start with the crystal tomorrow?” he asked and she nodded. 

“I’ll have it guarded, do not worry,” she said and he nodded, turning out of the door and heading back to his chamber. 

He stripped the rest of his clothes off and practically fell into bed with a soft groan, everything catching up on him, now. He ached all over, and his fingers still tingled from the force with which he’d used his magic to strangle Lotor with. He lay like that for a little while, drifting in and out of consciousness until he felt the bed dip and his eyes fluttered open, to see Shiro looking at him in concern. 

“Lance, baby, what happened?” Shiro asked, pulling the covers back to look at Lance’s bruised body. “Did someone here do this?”

Lance shook his head, eyes filling with hot tears as he looked at Shiro. He wasn’t going to lose him. He wouldn’t have to say goodbye. 

“Baby…” Shiro said softly, getting in the bed next to him and carefully pulling Lance into his arms, Lance pressing his face into Shiro’s neck as the tears spilled over and his body was wracked with overwhelmed sobs. 

It was going to be okay. They were going to be okay. 

Shiro held him close, bewildered, gently rocking him and kissing his head, making soothing shhing sounds. 

“Talk to me, my love,” he said gently as Lance began to calm down. 

Lance sat back, sniffing and wiping his eyes, looking at him. “I went to see Lotor today,” he said softly, watching as Shiro’s eyes widened. 

“Why… why would you do that? Did _he_ do this to you?” Shiro asked fiercely. 

Lance bit his lip, eyes watering again. “I um, I wasn’t sure if he still had any of the crystal left, so I went to ask him for it back.”

“You _what_? You went to _ask_ him for it back?”

Lance nodded. “He’d been planning on using it to bring my wife back to life, so that she could be with him this time,” Lance explained, shaking his head and biting his lip. “But that never would have worked, it would have been… a disaster. But he did have it.”

“And what, you tried to take it and he attacked you?” 

Lance shook his head. “I took care of it,” he said softly and Shiro tilted his head in confusion. “I know you think the world of me, puppy,” he said softly, reaching out to cup Shiro’s face. “But I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again. I am _not_ a good man.”

Shiro frowned softly. 

“He may have deserved it but that doesn’t make it right.”

Shiro opened his mouth and then closed it again. “You killed him,” he said. It wasn’t a question. 

“I did,” Lance confirmed. 

“How?” 

“Why do you want to know?” Lance asked, looking away. 

“Because if I get to… because of this, then I need to know what happened.”

“I choked him to death with my magic,” Lance said. “I watched him die, I _felt_ him die, and I _enjoyed_ it.”

Shiro blew out a shaky breath and looked away. 

“He tried to kill you,” Lance reminded him. 

“Yes.”

“He took away our only chance of being together.”

“Yes.”

“So I took it back by whatever means necessary,” He said and Shiro nodded, swallowing. “I did _ask_ first, puppy. I asked him- I _begged_ him on my knees. I gave him the chance and he didn’t take it.”

Shiro nodded again. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Shiro asked softly. 

“You’re disappointed in me,” Lance observed. 

“I’m not disappointed in you…” Shiro said softly. “I know what you are, Lance. I know that you’ve been around for a very long time and you’ve done very bad things, I’m not going to pretend that all of that has just gone away since you met me. I know all of that. And… you did it because you love me and you don’t want to go through the pain of losing someone again.”

Lance gave a small nod. “I love you so much,” Lance murmured softly, cupping Shiro’s face and resting their foreheads together. 

“I know, my love. I know.” Shiro murmured, gently pressing their lips together. “And I love you.”

“Romelle said tomorrow we can start with the crystal. Activating it,” he said, not moving away from where their lips rested together. “I’d have done it now if she hadn’t sent me to rest.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Shiro murmured, cradling the back of Lance’s head and pressing a succession of soft kisses to his lips. “We’re going to be okay.”

Lance let out a tiny sob against his lips, crumpling against him, and Shiro held him tightly in his arms, gently rocking him. He didn’t say anything, because Lance knew he understood. After spending so many months trying to come to terms with having a life together ripped away from them, and that he may only ever have a handful of years left with Shiro, this was… Sobbing in Shiro’s arms was Lance _holding it together_.

“I love you,” Lance murmured wetly, pressing a soft kiss to Shiro’s neck. 

“I love you more,” Shiro murmured and Lance gave a watery laugh, pulling back to look at him. 

“No,” he said softly with a smile. “You don’t,” he didn’t give Shiro a chance to respond, pressing their lips together again. 

Shiro cupped the back of his head, fingers laced into his hair as he kissed him back, more firmly this time, like he _needed_ to kiss him. Lance winced as Shiro pulled him properly into his lap, shifting him out of it and laying him down on the bed, gently stroking his cheek and tucking his hair behind his ear. 

“Does it hurt?” he asked gently and Lance shook his head, pulling Shiro back down over him and kissing him again. 

Lance moved their lips together, fingers curled in Shiro’s hair holding his head in place, not wanting him to pull away, just wanting him to keep kissing him like this. Lance gently licked at the seam of Shiro’s lips, and Shiro parted them for him, inviting his tongue into his mouth. 

Shiro breathed a soft moan as he slid his tongue against Lance’s, gently sucking it into his mouth and Lance arched against him, ignoring the ache in his muscles as he pressed himself against Shiro, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, wanting to feel his skin against his own. 

Shiro didn’t part their lips as he shrugged his shirt off of his shoulders, breathing a soft sigh into Lance’s mouth as Lance gently slid his hands over Shiro’s shoulders and his back. Shiro parted from his lips and Lance whined, chasing them, but Shiro tipped his head, gently pressing wet kisses along his jaw and down his neck, gently sucking at a few spots. 

“Shiro…” Lance breathed, curling his fingers in his hair as he gave a gentle moan. 

“Let me put some of my own bruises on you,” Shiro murmured and Lance huffed a small laugh. 

“You territorial wolf,” Lance murmured affectionately, gasping a soft moan as Shiro bit down, rolling his skin between his teeth until he bruised, sucking at the skin. 

After making a few marks on his neck, he continued down, nipping at his collar bones and then only pressing the softest of kisses as he got to where Lance’s skin was already bruised. He began his trail down, pressing a careful kiss to each place where his skin was coloured with greens and reds and purples, mottling his skin and Lance bit his lip, breathing heavily as his eyes fluttered closed. 

Shiro continued like this until he’d kissed each and every mark, each and every place that Lance had been hurt in, before carefully flicking his tongue out and swirling it around each hardened nipple in turn. 

Lance moaned softly, Shiro sucking one of them into his mouth, gently teasing it with his teeth, gently nibbling at it, before giving a gentle tug and releasing it with a pop. 

“Puppy…” Lance moaned softly, tugging on his hair again, eyes fluttering as Shiro moved to his other to do the same, knowing that Shiro could feel where his cock was stirring between his legs. 

“You’re mine,” Shiro murmured as he released his nipple, kissing down again to his stomach and his pelvis, kissing over his hip bones and shifting down the bed, carefully pushing Lance’s thighs apart and peppering the insides of them with kisses. 

“All yours, darling,” Lance moaned softly, wrapping his thighs around Shiro’s head as Shiro began to gently suck a few more bruises into him, Lance inhaling sharply. 

“Does that hurt?” He murmured as Lance tugged on his hair.

“Yes,” Lance murmured. “But don’t stop,” he instructed and Shiro didn’t. 

These bruises hurt, but they hurt good. They didn’t hurt because he was being kicked to the floor, no, they hurt because the man that he loved was loving him back, was kissing his skin and marking him as his own. 

He kept going like that until Lance was panting harshly, tears hot in his eyes and back arched, cock straining against his stomach. 

It was an eternity before Shiro decided he was done marking him up, fingers trailing over his hole and Lance whined softly. Shiro took a moment to suck on his fingers, coating them in saliva and pressing one into Lance. 

Lance breathed a soft moan, releasing Shiro’s head from where he’d wrapped his thighs around him, spreading his legs nice and wide for him. 

Shiro carefully thrust his finger into him and Lance blindly reached for the bedside table, opening the drawer and fumbling around inside, pulling out something that he really hoped was lube. 

“I’m not going to ask why that’s in there,” Shiro muttered with a smile as he took it from Lance, uncapping it and coating his fingers, pressing two into him. 

Lance moaned softly, spreading his legs further, whining as Shiro brought a hand up to wrap around his cock, gently jerking him off as he spread him open. 

Lance rocked his hips, ignoring the ache in his muscles as he did so, and Shiro had to let go of his cock, gently holding his hips in place against the bed for a moment before Lance got the message. 

“Don’t do that, sweetheart, you’ll hurt yourself,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to Lance’s hip bone before wrapping his hand back around his cock and slipping a third finger into him, spreading them inside of him. 

Lance whined impatiently, but Shiro was set on taking his time, each slow stroke of his cock and each crook of his fingers lovingly inside of him, teasing his prostate had Lance begging to arch off of the bed and into his touch, desperate to flip them over and sit on Shiro’s cock, ride him whether he liked it or not, just take what he wanted, but he didn’t. He let Shiro work him up, let him slowly open him up ready for his cock, pressing loving kisses along his shaft and catching a pearly bead of precum on his tongue. 

Finally he deemed him ready, pulling his fingers from him and slipping out of his pants, slicking his cock with lube and leaning over Lance, hooking a leg over his hip and leaning in to brush their noses together. 

“Does it hurt like this?” Shiro murmured and Lance shook his head, bringing Shiro against his lips in a kiss. 

Shiro lined up at his entrance, slowly pushing into him, sinking his cock in until he was fully seated inside of him, moaning into each other’s mouths. 

Shiro gently slid a hand down Lance’s chest, fingertips skating over his bruises. “I’m the only one that gets to mark you,” he murmured. “No one’s allowed to hurt you.”

“And you can protect me for the rest of my life,” Lance murmured, feeling his heart flutter in his chest at just those words. The rest of his life. Not the rest of Shiro’s. The rest of _Lance’s_.

Shiro huffed a soft shaky breath at that, pulling out and thrusting back in, kissing at his lips. Lance gasped into his mouth, Shiro taking the opportunity to slip his tongue in, licking into Lance’s mouth as he set a slow and loving pace, being careful not to hurt Lance as he thrust into him. 

“Come on, puppy, you’re not gonna break me,” Lance murmured. “I want to _feel_ you take me.”

Shiro huffed a soft growl, picking up the pace a little, tipping Lance’s head and mouthing messily at his neck, nipping and sucking as he went, determined to cover Lance in more of his own marks. 

Lance wrapped his legs around Shiro’s waist, trying to bring him in deeper as he thrust into him. 

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Shiro murmured as Lance wound his hands into his hair, gently stroking at the base of his ears. 

“I won’t,” Lance promised him, kissing at his jaw. “I love you.” 

Shiro moaned softly, early flicking as Lance stroked his ears. “I love _you_ ,” he murmured in response, thrusting deeply into him. 

Lance arched against him, catching his cock between their bodies and giving a soft whine at the friction, rutting against Shiro’s abdomen. 

“And you can love me for the rest of my life,” Lance murmured and Shiro breathed a small possessive growl, shifting them and pulling Lance closer against him as he thrust his cock into him. 

“Love you for the rest of your life,” Shiro echoed softly, the change in angle making Lance cry out softly as Shiro’s cock hit into his prostate. “Did that hurt?” Shiro asked worriedly. 

Lance shook his head quickly. “No- no, no, right there, baby-” he moaned softly and Shiro mouthed at his neck, thrusting into him a little faster, cock hitting against his prostate with almost every thrust.

Shiro reached between them, wrapping a hand around Lance’s cock and Lance whimpered. 

“Puppy, I’ll cum-” Lance warned, but Shiro just whined in response, panting against him as he rocked his cock into him. 

“Lance…” he whined and Lance could feel where his knot had swelled at the base of his cock and he was rutting it against him, trying to push it in. 

“Come on,” Lance moaned softly. “Come on, puppy, knot me, come on, good boy, knot me.” Lance moaned and Shiro whimpered, rocking his hips a little more desperately, huffing soft little frustrated growls as he mouthed at Lance’s throat, before Lance’s hole finally gave and Shiro’s knot slipped into him. 

Shiro rocked into him, less give now that his knot was inside of him, panting hard against him and suddenly remembering that he had Lance’s cock in his hand, quickly jerking him off as he rocked his hips. 

“Are you close?” Lance moaned and Shiro nodded, whining softly. “Let’s cum together then, okay?” he murmured and Shiro breathed a soft moan, nodding again, still jerking his hips. “Come on, honey, I want you to fill me up, yeah? You gonna be a good puppy and fill me up?”

Shiro whined, squeezing his hand around Lance’s cock and thumbing through his slit in a last attempt to send him over the edge as he came, groaning against Lance’s neck as he spilled into him, still trying to thrust into him as he did so. 

Lance gave a high pitched whine as he spilled over Shiro’s hand, hole clenching around his cock, milking him of his cum as he filled him up. They both panted together as they came down from it, still attached as Shiro collapsed on top of Lance, before shifting off of him and onto his side, careful of Lance’s bruises as he pulled him against his chest. 

He pressed soft kisses to Lance’s shoulder, arms wrapped firmly around Lance’s waist. “I love you so much,” he murmured and Lance gave a soft sleepy smile. 

“I love you so much, too,” he murmured back, snuggling back against him. 

They laid like that for a while in a comfortable silence, Lance drifting in and out of sleep, he shifted as Shiro’s knot went down and he was able to slip his cock out of him, feeling his cum drip out of him and onto his thighs. 

“We should get you cleaned up,” Shiro murmured and Lance gave a small noise of protest. 

“Just leave it,” he murmured and Shiro kissed his shoulder. 

“Baby, we can’t just leave it, you’ll be uncomfortable.”

Lance whined, turning over and pouting at him. “I don’t wanna move,” he whined softly. “I’m tired. Can’t you just fuck more into me in the morning and clean it out then?”

He watched as Shiro swallowed thickly and Lance’s lips curled. 

“You like that?” he murmured and Shiro gave a small nod. “You like that I wanna stay filled up with your cum all night, puppy? That I want you to give me more in the morning? Fill me up again nice and good? Knot me?”

“Lance…” Shiro moaned softly, biting his lip. “Don’t…”

“Don’t what, turn you on again?” he asked with a soft giggle. “If I wasn’t exhausted, then I would absolutely. But I’m not kidding, I don’t wanna move.”

Shiro sighed softly and kissed his forehead. “If you’re complaining the morning-”

“Then you can fuck me really hard as a punishment,” Lance offered. 

“My love, you’re injured,” Shiro reminded him and Lance huffed. 

“Then you can have an IOU,” he said and Shiro snickered. 

“Okay, baby,” he said with a hum, kissing his nose this time and Lance tipped his head to kiss his lips. 

He snuggled down in Shiro’s arms, Shiro turning onto his back and Lance settling against his chest with a soft sigh, arm lazily wrapped around his waist. 

“We’re gonna have a really pretty wedding here,” Lance murmured and Shiro gave a soft contented hum. 

“We are.”

“Where d’you wanna go for our honeymoon? We can go anywhere you want.”

“Anywhere?”

“Anywhere.”

Shiro kissed his head. “We’ll think on it then. I wanna go somewhere pretty. Somewhere pretty that I can run in, and somewhere we can sit together and look at a pretty view, and somewhere with a really big and comfortable bed.”

Lance giggled sleepily. “Definitely can do,” He nodded. “Bold assumption you’re gonna be leaving the bed at all.”

Shiro laughed and kissed Lance’s head again. “I have to say, I don’t think I’d mind all that much.”

Lance smiled against him, pressing a soft kiss to his chest. Things were good. Things were going to be okay, and for the first time since he’d met Shiro; things didn’t seem so bleak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one more to go 🥺 they’re so soft I love them 🥺
> 
> @ me on twt if u wanna know my original thought for what I wanted to do for the lotor scene which I ended up ,,, not doing


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the rest of forever, actually.

The crystal would take a couple of months to activate properly, and so Lance and Romelle had started right away in prepping it. Romelle kept it at the palace, under twenty four hour protection, which put Lance’s mind at ease. Nothing would be worse than losing it now after getting their hopes up. 

They planned to have the wedding around when the crystal would be ready, so that they could make that part of their ceremony, which meant that they’d had to plan everything incredibly quickly. 

After much thought and discussion, Shiro had eventually decided to tell his family how he and Lance had really met. They had been in disbelief at first, and Shiro had decided to ease them in with showing them a few of his wolf features, instead of going full wolf on them, and Lance had showed them a little magic. It wasn’t ideal, but they needed to know sooner or later.

They’d been surprised, still, that they’d decided to tie the knot so early on in their relationship, and they still had their reservations about Lance, having only met him now a handful of times and though they were grateful to him for saving Shiro’s life, they were apprehensive. They respected Shiro’s decision, however, and that was all that mattered. 

“Nova has to come to the wedding, Lance,” Shiro pouted, tabby cat scooped in his arms looking rather disgruntled, and Shiro’s ears were drooped. 

“She doesn’t want to come to the wedding, she’s a cat,” Lance said, hand on his hip, though he could already feel his resolve crumbling at the look on Shiro’s face. 

“But she’s our baby,” Shiro said sadly. “She needs to be there for her parents getting married.”

Lance sighed. “And what about when she runs off and we never see her again?”

“Nova would never do that! She loves us!” Shiro cried, cradling Nova tighter against his chest. 

“Fine, she can come. But I’m not being in charge of her, okay?”

“D’you think we can spare a little of the crystal for her?” Shiro asked with a small frown and Lance softened, taking a step closer to him and kissing his forehead. 

“That’s not quite how it works, love.” 

“I know,” Shiro said with a sigh. “But she’s coming to the wedding, okay? I’m gonna get her a bridesmaid dress.”

Lance laughed softly. “Good luck with getting her in it,” he said, as Nova decided enough was enough and leapt out of Shiro’s arms. 

“Don’t witches usually have cats, anyway?” Shiro asked, tilting his head as he watched her scamper off. 

“Well you see, I actually have a dog,” he teased and Shiro pouted. “I think you mean familiars. And no, the types of witches portrayed in human media aren’t actually the same as I am.” 

“No? I thought you were just hiding your true form in which you have green skin and warts on your nose, and you brew child-flavoured soup in a cauldron.”

Lance snorted. “Oh yeah, for sure. Once we’re married, babe, I won’t need to keep this glamour on, anymore.”

Shiro giggled, and Lance shook his head, laughing. 

“I love you,” he said softly and Shiro’s cheeks dusted pink, smiling as he bit his lip.

“I love you, too.”

Shiro _did_ end up getting Nova a bridesmaid dress, and Lance ended up having to heal a couple of deep scratches he’d gotten as he tried to get her to wear it. Shiro had tried to reason with her that just because she’d spent some time on the streets, didn’t mean she needed to ignore her feminine side, but Nova clearly hadn’t agreed. 

“Our cat is a bad bitch, and you just have to accept that,” Lance had snorted as Shiro pouted. 

“But she’s gonna look so pretty!”

They got her a little flower garland to go around her neck instead, and she liked that much better.

The time up until the wedding just flew by, Lance making regular trips to the West to check in with the crystal, and keep reinfusing it with his magic in preparation. He felt lighthearted in a way that he hadn’t since… since he’d married his wife, really. He felt happy, and that there was hope; that he was going to keep being happy for a very very long time. 

They packed their things and travelled to the West about a week prior, helping with preparations for the wedding up until the day came. Shiro’s family came in a couple of days early, too, Romelle lending her many spare rooms to their guests. Lance couldn’t thank her enough for her generosity, but it seemed like she was enjoying having so many people around. 

They’d opted to have the ceremony outside. It was where Shiro was happiest, after all, and the weather was gorgeous. Everything was set up beautifully, flowers and garlands decorating the rows of seats for the guests, and an archway for Shiro and Lance to exchange their vows under. 

They’d bickered over who would walk down the aisle, each wanting the other to be the one to do it, but eventually Shiro had caved and agreed, upon the premise that he actually had some family to give him away, and that after all Lance had fought to get them this, he wanted to see him walking down the aisle. 

It was lovely and warm but not hot when the day came. A light summer breeze in the air, perfumed with the flowers that lined the gardens in beds. Lance didn’t think that anything could have been more perfect. 

Lance hadn’t realised just how many friends he’d made over the centuries until he saw them all seated before him, as he waited for his fiance. His heart was beating fast, but it was more in anticipation than nervousness. 

He let out a breath as he saw Shiro standing there, a small smile spreading over his face. He was gorgeous. He was so gorgeous, and he loved him so much. He could feel each step that Shiro took in his chest, his heart beating loudly, never leaving his eyes until Shiro came to stand beside him. 

“You look beautiful,” Lance murmured and Shiro flushed softly, smiling. 

“So do you,” he murmured back. 

It was like the two of them existed in another dimension. None of this mattered, none of these people here who had come to support them, not the wedding, nothing. Just Shiro and Lance, standing here like this. 

They exchanged their vows, and slid their rings onto each other’s fingers, not letting go of each other’s hands once they were done. They kissed softly, only for a few moments, smiling against each other’s lips and giggling softly as they were pronounced husbands. 

Lance couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this. 

Everyone was led inside after that to eat, speeches were made, with laughter and tears shed, and then Lance and Shiro were excused, Romelle leading them through the gardens. 

“I’m afraid this is something that doesn’t require an audience,” she said with a soft smile as they got to where she was leading them. 

It was a waterfall and a small lake. Secluded enough that they hadn’t heard the running water before. It was gorgeous, and Lance could tell that all of Shiro’s instincts were telling him to just dive right in, suit and all. 

“Everything’s ready,” she said, producing a small vial of pink, shimmering liquid. 

Lance bit his lip, looking at it, and then at Shiro. This was it. This was going to allow them to be together. 

“I’ve brought you both out here for a reason. The West holds all kinds of secrets, but from having the fae living around here for so many centuries, this waterfall has come, over time, to be infused with the purest of healing qualities. The forest animals will come to drink from and bathe in it when they are injured, and many centuries ago, this was a most sacred area, healing the ancients and enhancing their powers.”

Shiro slipped their fingers together and Lance gave his hand a soft squeeze as they listened. 

“It’s not necessary for the crystal to work, of course, however I think it would be best. Shiro, I’m going to need you to drink this, and then remove your clothes and wade through the water until you’re standing directly under the stream. It will help infuse the potion into your blood, speeding up and solidifying the process more solidly.”

Shiro nodded. 

“Lance, you may join him, if you wish. I will leave you two once you get in, and you may make your own way back when you are ready.”

She held the vial out to Shiro, and Shiro took it from her, looking at it and blowing out a breath. Lance squeezed his hand again, and then let go, allowing Shiro to uncap it and bring it to his lips. Lance watched as he swallowed it, handing the empty vial back to Romelle. 

“Okay?” Lance asked softly and he nodded. He shrugged off his waist coat, folding it and laying it on the ground, Romelle nodding and turning to leave as Shiro started to unbutton his shirt. 

“Yeah,” he said, folding that too, and going for his trousers, next. 

Lance didn’t move as he undressed, waiting until he was completely naked, and watching as Shiro waded through the water, lip bitten until Shiro turned around to look at him, standing under the waterfall and gave him a grin. 

“Come on, baby,” he called. “It’s my wedding day, come and give me a kiss.”

Lance laughed softly, grinning back and taking his own clothes off, following him in, Shiro watching him, and sliding his arms around Lance’s waist once he got close enough, pressing their bodies together. 

“This is really it,” Lance murmured as the water ran over their skin and Shiro nodded. 

“This is really it,” he murmured back, bringing a hand to cup Lance’s face and kissing him. 

He kissed him like it was the first time, full of such wonderment and care and tenderness. He kissed him like it was the last time, full of longing and need and love. He kissed him like he was going to be able to do so for every day of the rest of their lives, full of security and safety and contentment. 

Time stopped as they kissed, hands roaming over each other’s skin, water cascading over them, hardly taking a moment to breathe as they moved their lips together, bodies pressed against one another. 

Things were going to be okay.

They finally broke apart, gasping for air and soaking wet, hair flat against their heads and water dripping down their faces. They rested their foreheads together, giggling softly and holding each other close. 

“We should probably get back to the party,” Shiro murmured and Lance hummed. 

“Probably,” he agreed, kissing him again. 

It could have been minutes, or hours, Lance didn’t know, but he never wanted to stop kissing Shiro. His husband. His husband, who was going to be with him for the rest of his life - they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. And Lance would do whatever it took to protect him. 

“I love you,” Lance murmured against his lips as they finally broke apart, manoeuvring themselves out from under the stream of water.

“I love _you_ ,” Shiro murmured, pressing a soft succession of kisses to his lips. “So much.” 

Lance smiled softly, holding Shiro close. They stayed like that for a few moments, before Lance took Shiro’s hand, wading with him to the edge of the lake. 

“She could have left us some towels,” Lance said with a hum, but Shiro was already one step ahead of him, shaking like a dog, water flying from his tail and his hair and Lance giggled. “That works, too.”

Shiro grinned at him. “It’s warm enough out, it should only take us a few minutes to air dry, and I think I can think of a way for us to pass the time.” 

“Oh, can you now?” Lance asked, grinning back, tilting his head and backing teasingly away from him. 

Shiro narrowed his eyes playfully, moving after him. Lance squeaked, breaking into a run and running away from him, grinning as he heard a playful growl catch in Shiro’s throat, Shiro breaking into a run after him and chasing him through the woods. 

Lance ran as fast as he could away from him, knowing he didn’t stand a chance. It was only a minute or two of running before Shiro caught up to him, and even then he suspected he’d been letting him get ahead. 

Lance squealed as Shiro tripped him up and pushed him to the ground, looming over him in full wolf form, teeth bared. 

“You gonna have your wicked way with me, puppy?” Lance asked teasingly, spreading his legs and Shiro huffed a small growl, nudging his nose against Lance’s cheek and then switching back into his human form.

“Careful, I just might,” he murmured as Lance pulled him in for another kiss. 

“Save it for the wedding night,” he murmured against his lips. Not a tease this time, but a promise. 

“Think you’ve dried off?” Shiro asked, getting up and helping Lance to his feet, brushing the dirt from their skin. 

Lance nodded, slipping their hands together as they walked back to the waterfall, putting their clothes back on. 

Lance ran his fingers through Shiro’s hair a few times, smoothing it back down. “There, now you don’t look like you’ve been for a romp in the forest.”

Shiro grinned and did the same for Lance. “You look beautiful.” 

Lance laughed softly, pecking Shiro’s lips and they began to walk back, hand in hand. 

“D’you feel any different?” Lance asked and Shiro shook his head. 

“Not yet. A little tingly maybe, but I think that’s from all the- you know. Waterfall and running.”

Lance hummed thoughtfully. “Could be,” he agreed, swinging their hands between them as the palace came into view.

“I hope we weren’t too long,” Shiro said with a soft frown. 

“It’s our wedding day,” Lance grinned, kissing his cheek. “We can be as long as we like. Everyone’s probably a little drunk by now, anyway.”

Shiro giggled. “That’s true. Are _we_ gonna get a little drunk?”

“D’you want to?” Lance asked and Shiro hummed. 

“Tipsy,” he settled on. “As long as we’ve sobered up by the time we leave tonight, I’ll be okay. I wanna make love to you _all night long_.”

Lance breathed a soft moan at that, biting his lip. “You’d better,” he said, grinning at him and Shiro grinned back. 

“Oh, I will,” he promised. 

Everyone was busy dancing and drinking and chatting when they came back, Shiro and Lance easily intermingling with them. They danced until it was dark, some of the guests retiring home, and Shiro and Lance decided to take their leave. Everyone bid them farewell, congratulating them again, and they made their way into the palace and up to their room to get their bags.

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going, yet,” Shiro said as they got their things. 

“I told you, it’s a surprise,” Lance smiled, opening a portal. “Are you ready?” he asked, offering him his hand, and Shiro took it. 

“Absolutely,” he said, and they stepped through the portal. 

Shiro’s ears perked as they stepped through, looking around with wide eyes, and his tail started to wag. 

“I think you’ve gotta put those away for now, baby,” Lance murmured and Shiro pouted, but did so. 

“It’s beautiful,” he said. 

Lance had already booked them the honeymoon suite at a hotel here. The sun was just setting over the horizon, casting a warm orange glow over everything and Shiro looked stunning. 

“You wanna see the view from our room?” he asked and Shiro nodded eagerly. 

They checked in at the front desk and were led up to the room. Lance had already seen it when he’d booked, so he settled for watching Shiro as he excitedly looked around, taking everything in. 

“Lance, it’s amazing,” he said as they were left alone and the door closed. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Lance smiled, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. 

Shiro bounded about the room, going into the bathroom and looking around and then out onto the balcony. The next time Lance looked at him, he had his ears and tail back, wagging furiously behind him as he took everything in. 

“I love you,” Lance murmured, following him out onto the balcony and wrapping his arms around his waist. 

“I love you too,” Shiro smiled, leaning back against him and taking in the view. “It’s gorgeous,” he said, looking out over the balcony, the view of the city beneath them, the beach and the waves, the sun shimmering on the ocean. It really was stunning. 

“What d’you wanna do first?” Lance smiled and Shiro bit his lip in thought, heading back into the room and peeling off his clothes. 

Lance stood looking at him amusedly, and Shiro dragged him into the bathroom, taking off Lance’s own clothes for him as they went. He filled up the jacuzzi looking excitedly at all the jets and Lance smiled softly at him. 

“You’d think you’d never been to a hotel before,” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the curve of Shiro’s neck. 

“Well, I’ve never been to one this nice,” he admitted and Lance smiled. 

He didn’t say anything else, and Shiro tilted his head, letting Lance press soft kisses over his skin as the hot water filled, and Shiro pulled Lance closer. 

“You looking to mark me up on my wedding day?” Shiro asked in a soft tease as Lance gave a nip to his skin. 

“You think ‘cause you’re a wolf you’re the one that gets to do all the marking?” Lance murmured, dragging his lips over his skin and then gently biting down. “And I think… the sun has set, which means it’s officially our wedding _night_.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Shiro said exaggeratedly and Lance giggled. 

“ _Oh_ , indeed,” Lance murmured, going back to wetly kissing at his neck. 

“You think we can manage a bath first?” Shiro asked, snaking an arm around Lance’s waist and pulling him closer. 

“I think that there are seats in it,” Lance said back, and Shiro tipped his head to press their lips together. 

“Oh, you’re right,” Shiro grinned against his lips, picking Lance up and getting into the jacuzzi with him, sitting down and settling Lance in his lap as the hot water filled up around him. “You wanna turn the jets on?” 

Lance nodded, switching them on, and cupping Shiro’s face, pressing their lips back together. Shiro moaned softly against Lance’s lips, hands slipping around his waist, parting his lips as Lance licked at their seam, letting him slip his tongue into his mouth. 

Lance licked into his mouth, and Shiro moaned softly, hands gripping at his hips, before moving one to fumble with the taps to switch the water off. 

“You’re beautiful,” Shiro murmured as they parted, Lance sitting in his lap breathless and flushed. 

Lance bit his lip, smiling softly. “You’ve always liked telling me that.”

“I think that you probably haven’t been told enough,” Shiro murmured, cupping his face. “Eight hundred years is a long time, my love.”

Lance looked down and nodded. “It is. And one day when you’re my age, you’ll understand,” he smiled, leaning in to brush their lips together again, unable to stop the smile from widening. 

“One day.” Shiro agreed, smiling back against him. 

One day when Shiro was his age. Because Shiro was going to live, he wasn’t going to die in fifty years, or eighty. He was going to spend the rest of his life with Lance. Lance broke their kiss, resting their foreheads together and shuddering out a breath. 

“Are you okay, darling?” Shiro murmured, gently stroking his back and Lance nodded, dropping to press his forehead into the crook of Shiro’s neck. 

“I’m just…” he murmured, shaking his head. “A little overwhelmed?” 

Shiro nodded, holding him close. “Let’s save it for later, okay?” he said, and Lance nodded. 

Shiro held Lance against him for a few minutes, soothingly stroking over his back, until Lance slipped out of his lap and onto the seat next to him, leaning into his side. 

“I love you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. 

“I know,” Shiro replied, wrapping an arm around him. “I know you do, baby. I love you too, so much.”

They relaxed in the tub for a little while, enjoying the warm water and the jets, with gentle kisses that had no intent behind them, holding hands and talking about nothing in particular. 

Lance was more content than he’d been for a while. Shiro’s hand was on his thigh, gently tracing patterns into his skin, and he had his lips pressed to his temple in a soft kiss. 

“So,” Lance murmured, looking at him. “How does it feel to be married?” he asked with a soft smile on his face. 

Shiro hummed. “It feels really good, actually,” he said, cupping Lance’s face. 

“Yeah?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah,” he blew out a breath. “This past year has been crazy. I mean… Last new years eve I think I was… God, I don’t even know what I was doing. I was out of school, getting drunk with my friends, and this new years eve I spent at home with my fiance and our cat. Also, I’m a werewolf and he’s eight hundred years old. And now you’re my husband, and I’m also hopefully one day going to be that old, so that I’ll never have to leave you.”

Lance bit his lip with a smile. “Well, the same goes for me, really. For the past… five hundred years I’ve pushed everything and everyone away so that I wouldn’t get hurt, but I never realised just how lonely it was until I met you. And now…”

“And now?”

“I couldn’t be happier,” Lance said and Shiro pressed a soft kiss to his lips. 

“Me neither,” he agreed, gently taking Lance’s bottom lip between his teeth in an affectionate nip. “Shall we get out, now?”

Lance hummed and nodded, moving to drain it, and standing up, getting out and wrapping a towel around his waist, getting one for Shiro as he got out, too. 

“Aww, we’re using towels, this time?” Shiro teased and Lance laughed. 

“I think we may get kicked out if we start streaking, my love.” 

Shiro pouted and wrapped his arms around Lance’s waist. “Good thing we have these handy robes, instead, huh?” he said, gesturing to where two white towelling robes were hung up. 

“And why is that a good thing?” Lance asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“So I can pull it right back off you,” Shiro said innocently, giving a soft nip to Lance’s ear lobe and Lance giggled. 

“Uh huh? I think I may need a practical demonstration of how that works…”

“Well, I’m sure that can be arranged,” Shiro hummed, going over and getting them, putting one on himself and holding the other out for Lance, helping him into it. 

Lance hummed, taking Shiro’s hand and leading him back into the bedroom. “Let’s leave the balcony doors open,” he said, looking out at the view they had, night sky littered with bright stars. 

“People might hear us,” Shiro murmured and Lance looked at him with a grin. 

“Let them.”

“They might see us,” Shiro said teasingly, taking a step closer to Lance. 

“Let them,” Lance murmured, pressing their lips together. It was highly unlikely, of course, but the soft growl that caught in Shiro’s throat was worth it. 

Shiro untied the tie from around Lance’s robe, letting it fall open, exposing his body, and pulled Lance against him. 

“See?” he said, pulling back and raking his eyes over Lance’s body. “It works just fine.”

“Mm,” Lance hummed, tugging on Shiro’s belt tie, too. “So it does,” he said, when the same happened to his robe. 

“So, husband,” Shiro murmured, moving in and gently slipping Lance’s robe from his shoulders. 

“So?” Lance asked, unable to stop the smile from spreading over his face, his robe pooling at his feet. 

“Will you allow me to take you to bed?” he asked and Lance bit his lip, laughing softly. 

“Such a gentleman,” he murmured, slipping Shiro’s robe off, too.

“You say that now,” Shiro grinned and Lance giggled. 

“Prove me wrong.” Lance murmured, meeting Shiro half way for the kiss, letting him back him up towards the bed, pushing him down onto it, slipping their hands together, interlacing their fingers and holding them above Lance’s head on the bed. 

Lance gasped softly, arching his body against Shiro’s as they kissed, wrapping his leg around one of Shiro’s, entangling their limbs. Shiro broke their kiss, dragging his lips down Lance’s neck, letting his teeth graze the skin and slotting a thigh between Lance’s legs. 

“You said you were going to make love to me all night,” Lance murmured, caught between wanting to bring a hand down to entangle in Shiro’s hair, and wanting to keep them where Shiro was holding them, their fingers laced together. 

“I am,” Shiro murmured, breath hot against his ear as he gently nibbled at his lobe. “Is that what you want?” he asked, gently nipping at the skin below his ear and Lance shuddered. 

“Yes,” he moaned softly. “I want you to make love to me. I don’t want you to hold back.”

Shiro moaned softly against his skin, letting go of one of Lance’s hands to gently tip his head back against the sheets, exposing his neck, and he leaned in, peppering it with wet kisses. 

Lance slipped a hand into Shiro’s hair, gently tugging at it as Shiro nipped at his throat. He wanted to be covered in his husband’s marks, he wanted bruises all over him from where he’d bitten him, held him, fucked him. 

“More,” Lance murmured, and Shiro groaned against his neck, biting down a little harder and rocking his hips against Lance’s. 

Lance moaned softly in response, letting Shiro mark him for a few more minutes, before flipping them over, Shiro being taken by surprise, looking up at Lance with wide eyes as he sat himself in Shiro’s lap. 

“You’re gorgeous,” Shiro murmured as he looked up at him, hands coming to rest on Lance’s waist. 

“Careful, you don’t want to inflate my ego too much,” he said with a teasing smile, smoothing his hands over Shiro’s chest, Shiro letting his eyes flutter closed, leaning into Lance’s touch. 

“Were you getting impatient?” Shiro asked, a soft smile on his lips as Lance gently ran his fingertips over Shiro’s chest. 

Lance hummed noncommittally, gently pinching Shiro’s nipples between his fingers and Shiro bit his lip, gasping softly. “I wanted to touch you,” he murmured. 

“I forget sometimes that you do like to be in charge,” Shiro said, looking up at him with an amused smile on his face as Lance rocked their hips together, playing with Shiro’s nipples as he did so. 

“I like to indulge you,” Lance smiled back. “You are a wolf, after all.”

“You didn’t used to let me be the big spoon,” Shiro said and Lance rolled his eyes. “Or call you baby.”

“You were a menace,” Lance countered, taking Shiro’s cock in hand, still mostly soft, but he groaned softly as Lance wrapped his fingers around him. 

“That’s very rude,” Shiro said, though it was half hearted, slowly rolling his hips.

“I am known for being rude,” Lance said, flashing Shiro a grin as he coaxed his cock to hardness. 

Shiro huffed a soft breath, hands sliding around to cup Lance’s ass. “C’mon, don’t tease me until you’re ready for me.”

Lance pouted. “But where’s the fun in that?” 

“Come on, baby, we have time,” Shiro murmured, giving his ass a soft squeeze. “We have all the time in the world,” he reminded him and Lance softened, smiling and biting his lip. 

“We do,” he agreed. “Come on then, you needy wolf, open me up,” he said with a dramatic sigh, rolling off of Shiro and onto the bed next to him, limbs splayed out like a starfish. 

“Ever the dramatic,” Shiro said as he got up, grabbing the lube out of one of their bags and coming back over to Lance. 

Lance grinned up at him, hooking his legs over Shiro’s hips as he settled between them, slicking his fingers and teasingly rubbing them against Lance’s entrance. Lance bit his lip, wiggling his hips a little in an attempt to entice Shiro to move along a little faster, and after taking a little time to tease him, he did, sinking one into him. 

“Come on, puppy, you know I can take more than that,” he pouted. “Be nice to me, it’s my wedding night.”

Shiro grinned, huffing a soft laugh and pressing a second in beside it. “Better?”

Lance breathed a soft moan at the stretch and nodded. “Mmmmhm, that’s better,” he agreed. 

“You always open up so nicely,” Shiro murmured as he thrust his fingers into him, spreading them inside of him in preparation for another. 

“Only for you, darling,” Lance said, throwing him a wink and Shiro rolled his eyes, smiling widely. 

Lance grinned back, before his lips parted, gasping as Shiro hooked his fingers right into his prostate. He whimpered softly, biting down on his lip and Shiro ran his eyes over his body. He rubbed his fingers over the spot for a few moments and Lance whined loudly, arching into his touch. 

“Please, c’mon,” he murmured, already a little breathless and Shiro obliged, sinking a third finger into him, making quick work of stretching him out. 

Lance didn’t want to wait any more, didn’t want to have to deal with any more teasing. It was his wedding night and he wanted his husband balls deep inside of him, and he wanted him now. He wanted Shiro to take him hard and deep and slow and sweet all at once, wanted him to kiss the life out of him, press him into the mattress and finally knot him, filling him up. 

“Please… I want you, darling, I want you so badly,” Lance murmured, reaching to lace their fingers together and Shiro looked softly at him, gently stroking his hand. 

“Almost there, baby,” he assured him, stretching him out for a few more moments, before finally pulling his fingers from Lance’s body, running his hand over his cock a few times and slicking it with lube. 

He kept Lance’s thighs over his hips as he leaned over him, pressing their foreheads together as he positioned his cock against Lance’s slick entrance, slowly easing his cock into him. 

They moaned together, breath hot against each other’s lips, Lance wrapping his arms around Shiro, sliding his hands over his back, before Shiro slid one of their hands together, fingers lacing together. 

“I wanna hold your hand,” Shiro murmured and Lance moaned softly, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

He could feel Shiro’s balls resting heavily against his ass, cock fully seated inside of him, and Shiro stayed like that for a moment, before slowly rolling his hips. Lance groaned, rolling his hips with Shiro’s, trying to keep his cock deep inside of him. 

Shiro finally began to drag it out of him, head catching on his rim and almost slipping out, but Shiro swiftly thrust back into him right to the hilt, and they arched into each other, moaning together, moving to meet each other’s lips. 

Shiro started out slow like that, just dragging his cock out of Lance and thrusting it deep back inside of him, bodies hot pressed against one another, messily kissing at each other’s lips, swallowing each other’s noises. At last, he began to pick up the pace a little, and the soft slap of his balls against Lance’s ass could be heard throughout the room. 

Shiro broke away from Lance’s lips, kissing wetly down his neck, and Lance moaned softly, eyes fluttering and he could see over Shiro’s shoulder, where his tail was slowly wagging as he thrust into him. Shiro rarely didn’t have his ears and his tail out, these days, and Lance always loved that his tail wagged when he was feeling good, or when he was excited. 

Lance slid his fingers over Shiro’s back, mapping out his skin with his fingertips as Shiro nipped and sucked at his neck, no doubt mottling it more with bruises and marks; claiming Lance as his own, as his mate- his husband. 

Lance’s neck and collar bones must have been absolutely covered in marks by now, but he didn’t care, he wanted them all. Shiro was _his_ , and he was Shiro’s, and they were going to be together for the rest of their lives. He didn’t care if people would stare at him tomorrow when they no doubt went sight-seeing, because he’d fought for this moment, hell, he’d _killed_ for this moment, and he was going to have his husband make love to him again and again and again and again. 

Shiro was huffing little breaths against his throat, humping his cock into him in short fast thrusts, balls slapping loudly against his ass, hands sliding down to Lance’s thighs, pulling his body against his own, pushing his cock deeper into him. 

Lance groaned, arching into his touch, Shiro’s cock hitting against his prostate and he whimpered, rolling his hips and trying to replicate the motion. Shiro gave a soft growl as he felt Lance tighten around him, shifting his hips to seek it out again, positioning them to let his cock hit against his prostate and Lance whimpered, hole clenching around him with each hit. 

Lance laced a hand into Shiro’s hair, dragging him back up to his lips and kissing him messily, Shiro’s lips swollen from where he’d been leaving marks over Lance’s skin, and Lance took his lower lip between his teeth, biting down and drawing a soft whimper from Shiro. 

Shiro slipped a hand between them, wrapping it around Lance’s cock and quickly jerking him off, Lance giving a high pitched whine in response, hole fluttering around his cock. He rolled his hips, caught between rolling against Shiro’s thrusts and pushing his cock into Shiro’s hand, panting against Shiro’s lips. It became less kissing and more panting against one another after that, and Lance could feel Shiro’s knot swelling at the base of his cock, hitting against his hole as he thrust into him. 

“Please, please, please,” he panted and a soft growl caught in Shiro’s throat, thrusting harder against him, trying to get his knot in. “Knot me.”

It always took a few tries the first time, but once Lance had been knotted once, Shiro could knot him again and again with ease. He huffed frustratedly as he thrust into Lance, knot pressing against his rim each time, but not quite getting in. Shiro growled, using both of his hands to hold Lance down, pushing him into the bed and snapping his hips, forcing his knot inside of him and Lance cried out, back arching in pleasure at the stretch. 

Now tied together Shiro couldn’t thrust as well, humping into him, knot tugging on his rim as he ground his hips, Shiro’s hand working quickly over Lance’s cock, their foreheads resting together as they panted and moaned, Lance clenching around Shiro, each grind of his hips nudging his cock into Lance’s prostate, and he was a whimpering mess, cock pulsing in his hand. 

Lance cried out loudly when he came, clutching tightly to Shiro as he spilled over his hand, hole fluttering rhythmically around Shiro’s cock as he rolled his hips, grinding it into him. Shiro grunted softly, pressing his face into the crook of Lance’s neck as he came, and Lance could feel the hot ropes of cum as he spilled into him, again and again and again until he was spent.

Shiro collapsed on top of Lance, and Lance wrapped his arms around him, both of their chests heaving as they came down from their highs, still tied firmly together. Eventually, Shiro managed to lift his head up, making a small kissing nose and Lance met him half way, pressing their lips together and gently moving them together for a few moments, before collapsing back against the bed. 

“I love you,” Shiro murmured, tucking his face into Lance’s neck. 

“I love you, too, puppy,” Lance murmured back, lacing a hand into Shiro’s hair and gently stroking through it. 

“We’re married,” Shiro said, and Lance could feel him smiling against his skin. 

Lance couldn’t stop his own smile from spreading across his face. “We’re married,” he agreed, nodding. 

Things really were going to be okay, from here on out. They would take care of each other, protect one another, and they’d be together; stay together. Lance wasn’t going to be alone anymore, he was never going to know the loneliness that he’d forced upon himself for centuries. He was never going to have to face a cold empty bed, because he had arms to fall into now. 

He had Shiro now. They had each other, and things were wonderful, they were so so wonderful, and they were going to keep being this good for years and years and years and years to come. For the rest of forever, actually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well thats it folks i rlly hope u enjoyed it !!!
> 
> this was originally a zine piece lol so i cut it down to 5k for that ,,, somehow ? anyway my angel mimi did some gorgeous art for it which im forever in love with which u can check out [here](https://twitter.com/Bansheebender/status/1262570961305567233?s=20)
> 
> comments are greatly appreciated i love u guys <333


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